Neural Correlates of Subliminal Language Processing

PubMed Central

Axelrod, Vadim; Bar, Moshe; Rees, Geraint; Yovel, Galit

2015-01-01

Language is a high-level cognitive function, so exploring the neural correlates of unconscious language processing is essential for understanding the limits of unconscious processing in general. The results of several functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have suggested that unconscious lexical and semantic processing is confined to the posterior temporal lobe, without involvement of the frontal lobe—the regions that are indispensable for conscious language processing. However, previous studies employed a similarly designed masked priming paradigm with briefly presented single and contextually unrelated words. It is thus possible, that the stimulation level was insufficiently strong to be detected in the high-level frontal regions. Here, in a high-resolution fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis study we explored the neural correlates of subliminal language processing using a novel paradigm, where written meaningful sentences were suppressed from awareness for extended duration using continuous flash suppression. We found that subjectively and objectively invisible meaningful sentences and unpronounceable nonwords could be discriminated not only in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), but critically, also in the left middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that frontal lobes play a role in unconscious language processing and that activation of the frontal lobes per se might not be sufficient for achieving conscious awareness. PMID:24557638

Disentangling conscious from unconscious cognitive processing with event-related EEG potentials.

PubMed

Rohaut, B; Naccache, L

By looking for properties of consciousness, cognitive neuroscience studies have dramatically enlarged the scope of unconscious cognitive processing. This emerging knowledge inspired the development of new approaches allowing clinicians to probe and disentangle conscious from unconscious cognitive processes in non-communicating brain-injured patients both in terms of behaviour and brain activity. This information is extremely valuable in order to improve diagnosis and prognosis in such patients both at acute and chronic settings. Reciprocally, the growing observations coming from such patients suffering from disorders of consciousness provide valuable constraints to theoretical models of consciousness. In this review we chose to illustrate these recent developments by focusing on brain signals recorded with EEG at bedside in response to auditory stimuli. More precisely, we present the respective EEG markers of unconscious and conscious processing of two classes of auditory stimuli (sounds and words). We show that in both cases, conscious access to the corresponding representation (e.g.: auditory regularity and verbal semantic content) share a similar neural signature (P3b and P600/LPC) that can be distinguished from unconscious processing occurring during an earlier stage (MMN and N400). We propose a two-stage serial model of processing and discuss how unconscious and conscious signatures can be measured at bedside providing relevant informations for both diagnosis and prognosis of consciousness recovery. These two examples emphasize how fruitful can be the bidirectional approach exploring cognition in healthy subjects and in brain-damaged patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Neural Correlates of Subliminal Language Processing.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Bar, Moshe; Rees, Geraint; Yovel, Galit

2015-08-01

Language is a high-level cognitive function, so exploring the neural correlates of unconscious language processing is essential for understanding the limits of unconscious processing in general. The results of several functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have suggested that unconscious lexical and semantic processing is confined to the posterior temporal lobe, without involvement of the frontal lobe-the regions that are indispensable for conscious language processing. However, previous studies employed a similarly designed masked priming paradigm with briefly presented single and contextually unrelated words. It is thus possible, that the stimulation level was insufficiently strong to be detected in the high-level frontal regions. Here, in a high-resolution fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis study we explored the neural correlates of subliminal language processing using a novel paradigm, where written meaningful sentences were suppressed from awareness for extended duration using continuous flash suppression. We found that subjectively and objectively invisible meaningful sentences and unpronounceable nonwords could be discriminated not only in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), but critically, also in the left middle frontal gyrus. We conclude that frontal lobes play a role in unconscious language processing and that activation of the frontal lobes per se might not be sufficient for achieving conscious awareness. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Unconscious Semantic Activation Depends on Feature-Specific Attention Allocation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spruyt, Adriaan; De Houwer, Jan; Everaert, Tom; Hermans, Dirk

2012-01-01

We examined whether semantic activation by subliminally presented stimuli is dependent upon the extent to which participants assign attention to specific semantic stimulus features and stimulus dimensions. Participants pronounced visible target words that were preceded by briefly presented, masked prime words. Both affective and non-affective…

The Influence of Intention on Masked Priming: A Study with Semantic Classification of Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckstein, Doris; Perrig, Walter J.

2007-01-01

Unconscious perception is commonly described as a phenomenon that is not under intentional control and relies on automatic processes. We challenge this view by arguing that some automatic processes may indeed be under intentional control, which is implemented in task-sets that define how the task is to be performed. In consequence, those prime…

Unconscious perception: a model-based approach to method and evidence.

PubMed

Snodgrass, Michael; Bernat, Edward; Shevrin, Howard

2004-07-01

Unconscious perceptual effects remain controversial because it is hard to rule out alternative conscious perception explanations for them. We present a novel methodological framework, stressing the centrality of specifying the single-process conscious perception model (i.e., the null hypothesis). Various considerations, including those of SDT (Macmillan & Creelman, 1991), suggest that conscious perception functions hierarchically, in such a way that higher level effects (e.g., semantic priming) should not be possible without lower level discrimination (i.e., detection and identification). Relatedly, alternative conscious perception accounts (as well as the exhaustiveness, null sensitivity, and exclusiveness problems-Reingold & Merikle, 1988, 1990) predict positive relationships between direct and indirect measures. Contrariwise, our review suggests that negative and/or nonmonotonic relationships are found, providing strong evidence for unconscious perception and further suggesting that conscious and unconscious perceptual influences are functionally exclusive (cf. Jones, 1987), in such a way that the former typically override the latter when both are present. Consequently, unconscious perceptual effects manifest reliably only when conscious perception is completely absent, which occurs at the objective detection (but not identification) threshold.

The semantic origin of unconscious priming: Behavioral and event-related potential evidence during category congruency priming from strongly and weakly related masked words.

PubMed

Ortells, Juan J; Kiefer, Markus; Castillo, Alejandro; Megías, Montserrat; Morillas, Alejandro

2016-01-01

The mechanisms underlying masked congruency priming, semantic mechanisms such as semantic activation or non-semantic mechanisms, for example response activation, remain a matter of debate. In order to decide between these alternatives, reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in the present study, while participants performed a semantic categorization task on visible word targets that were preceded either 167 ms (Experiment 1) or 34 ms before (Experiment 2) by briefly presented (33 ms) novel (unpracticed) masked prime words. The primes and targets belonged to different categories (unrelated), or they were either strongly or weakly semantically related category co-exemplars. Behavioral (RT) and electrophysiological masked congruency priming effects were significantly greater for strongly related pairs than for weakly related pairs, indicating a semantic origin of effects. Priming in the latter condition was not statistically reliable. Furthermore, priming effects modulated the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component, an electrophysiological index of semantic processing, but not ERPs in the time range of the N200 component, associated with response conflict and visuo-motor response priming. The present results demonstrate that masked congruency priming from novel prime words also depends on semantic processing of the primes and is not exclusively driven by non-semantic mechanisms such as response activation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mechanisms of masked evaluative priming: task sets modulate behavioral and electrophysiological priming for picture and words differentially

PubMed Central

Liegel, Nathalie; Zovko, Monika; Wentura, Dirk

2017-01-01

Abstract Research with the evaluative priming paradigm has shown that affective evaluation processes reliably influence cognition and behavior, even when triggered outside awareness. However, the precise mechanisms underlying such subliminal evaluative priming effects, response activation vs semantic processing, are matter of a debate. In this study, we determined the relative contribution of semantic processing and response activation to masked evaluative priming with pictures and words. To this end, we investigated the modulation of masked pictorial vs verbal priming by previously activated perceptual vs semantic task sets and assessed the electrophysiological correlates of priming using event-related potential (ERP) recordings. Behavioral and electrophysiological effects showed a differential modulation of pictorial and verbal subliminal priming by previously activated task sets: Pictorial priming was only observed during the perceptual but not during the semantic task set. Verbal priming, in contrast, was found when either task set was activated. Furthermore, only verbal priming was associated with a modulation of the N400 ERP component, an index of semantic processing, whereas a priming-related modulation of earlier ERPs, indexing visuo-motor S-R activation, was found for both picture and words. The results thus demonstrate that different neuro-cognitive processes contribute to unconscious evaluative priming depending on the stimulus format. PMID:27998994

Role of consciousness in temporal integration of semantic information.

PubMed

Yang, Yung-Hao; Tien, Yung-Hsuan; Yang, Pei-Ling; Yeh, Su-Ling

2017-10-01

Previous studies found that word meaning can be processed unconsciously. Yet it remains unknown whether temporally segregated words can be integrated into a holistic meaningful phrase without consciousness. The first four experiments were designed to examine this by sequentially presenting the first three words of Chinese four-word idioms as prime to one eye and dynamic Mondrians to the other (i.e., the continuous flash suppression paradigm; CFS). An unmasked target word followed the three masked words in a lexical decision task. Results from such invisible (CFS) condition were compared with the visible condition where the preceding words were superimposed on the Mondrians and presented to both eyes. Lower performance in behavioral experiments and larger N400 event-related potentials (ERP) component for incongruent- than congruent-ending words were found in the visible condition. However, no such congruency effect was found in the invisible condition, even with enhanced statistical power and top-down attention, and with several potential confounding factors (contrast-dependent processing, long interval, no conscious training) excluded. Experiment 5 demonstrated that familiarity of word orientation without temporal integration can be processed unconsciously, excluding the possibility of general insensitivity of our paradigm. The overall result pattern therefore suggests that consciousness plays an important role in semantic temporal integration in the conditions we tested.

Boundary conditions for the influence of unfamiliar non-target primes in unconscious evaluative priming: The moderating role of attentional task sets.

PubMed

Kiefer, Markus; Sim, Eun-Jim; Wentura, Dirk

2015-09-01

Evaluative priming by masked emotional stimuli that are not consciously perceived has been taken as evidence that affective stimulus evaluation can also occur unconsciously. However, as masked priming effects were small and frequently observed only for familiar primes that there also presented as visible targets in an evaluative decision task, priming was thought to reflect primarily response activation based on acquired S-R associations and not evaluative semantic stimulus analysis. The present study therefore assessed across three experiments boundary conditions for the emergence of masked evaluative priming effects with unfamiliar primes in an evaluative decision task and investigated the role of the frequency of target repetition on priming with pictorial and verbal stimuli. While familiar primes elicited robust priming effects in all conditions, priming effects by unfamiliar primes were reliably obtained for low repetition (pictures) or unrepeated targets (words), but not for targets repeated at a high frequency. This suggests that unfamiliar masked stimuli only elicit evaluative priming effects when the task set associated with the visible target involves evaluative semantic analysis and is not based on S-R triggered responding as for high repetition targets. The present results therefore converge with the growing body of evidence demonstrating attentional control influences on unconscious processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Subliminal unconscious conflict alpha power inhibits supraliminal conscious symptom experience.

PubMed

Shevrin, Howard; Snodgrass, Michael; Brakel, Linda A W; Kushwaha, Ramesh; Kalaida, Natalia L; Bazan, Ariane

2013-01-01

Our approach is based on a tri-partite method of integrating psychodynamic hypotheses, cognitive subliminal processes, and psychophysiological alpha power measures. We present ten social phobic subjects with three individually selected groups of words representing unconscious conflict, conscious symptom experience, and Osgood Semantic negative valence words used as a control word group. The unconscious conflict and conscious symptom words, presented subliminally and supraliminally, act as primes preceding the conscious symptom and control words presented as supraliminal targets. With alpha power as a marker of inhibitory brain activity, we show that unconscious conflict primes, only when presented subliminally, have a unique inhibitory effect on conscious symptom targets. This effect is absent when the unconscious conflict primes are presented supraliminally, or when the target is the control words. Unconscious conflict prime effects were found to correlate with a measure of repressiveness in a similar previous study (Shevrin et al., 1992, 1996). Conscious symptom primes have no inhibitory effect when presented subliminally. Inhibitory effects with conscious symptom primes are present, but only when the primes are supraliminal, and they did not correlate with repressiveness in a previous study (Shevrin et al., 1992, 1996). We conclude that while the inhibition following supraliminal conscious symptom primes is due to conscious threat bias, the inhibition following subliminal unconscious conflict primes provides a neurological blueprint for dynamic repression: it is only activated subliminally by an individual's unconscious conflict and has an inhibitory effect specific only to the conscious symptom. These novel findings constitute neuroscientific evidence for the psychoanalytic concepts of unconscious conflict and repression, while extending neuroscience theory and methods into the realm of personal, psychological meaning.

Subliminal unconscious conflict alpha power inhibits supraliminal conscious symptom experience

PubMed Central

Shevrin, Howard; Snodgrass, Michael; Brakel, Linda A. W.; Kushwaha, Ramesh; Kalaida, Natalia L.; Bazan, Ariane

2013-01-01

Our approach is based on a tri-partite method of integrating psychodynamic hypotheses, cognitive subliminal processes, and psychophysiological alpha power measures. We present ten social phobic subjects with three individually selected groups of words representing unconscious conflict, conscious symptom experience, and Osgood Semantic negative valence words used as a control word group. The unconscious conflict and conscious symptom words, presented subliminally and supraliminally, act as primes preceding the conscious symptom and control words presented as supraliminal targets. With alpha power as a marker of inhibitory brain activity, we show that unconscious conflict primes, only when presented subliminally, have a unique inhibitory effect on conscious symptom targets. This effect is absent when the unconscious conflict primes are presented supraliminally, or when the target is the control words. Unconscious conflict prime effects were found to correlate with a measure of repressiveness in a similar previous study (Shevrin et al., 1992, 1996). Conscious symptom primes have no inhibitory effect when presented subliminally. Inhibitory effects with conscious symptom primes are present, but only when the primes are supraliminal, and they did not correlate with repressiveness in a previous study (Shevrin et al., 1992, 1996). We conclude that while the inhibition following supraliminal conscious symptom primes is due to conscious threat bias, the inhibition following subliminal unconscious conflict primes provides a neurological blueprint for dynamic repression: it is only activated subliminally by an individual's unconscious conflict and has an inhibitory effect specific only to the conscious symptom. These novel findings constitute neuroscientific evidence for the psychoanalytic concepts of unconscious conflict and repression, while extending neuroscience theory and methods into the realm of personal, psychological meaning. PMID:24046743

Mechanisms of masked evaluative priming: task sets modulate behavioral and electrophysiological priming for picture and words differentially.

PubMed

Kiefer, Markus; Liegel, Nathalie; Zovko, Monika; Wentura, Dirk

2017-04-01

Research with the evaluative priming paradigm has shown that affective evaluation processes reliably influence cognition and behavior, even when triggered outside awareness. However, the precise mechanisms underlying such subliminal evaluative priming effects, response activation vs semantic processing, are matter of a debate. In this study, we determined the relative contribution of semantic processing and response activation to masked evaluative priming with pictures and words. To this end, we investigated the modulation of masked pictorial vs verbal priming by previously activated perceptual vs semantic task sets and assessed the electrophysiological correlates of priming using event-related potential (ERP) recordings. Behavioral and electrophysiological effects showed a differential modulation of pictorial and verbal subliminal priming by previously activated task sets: Pictorial priming was only observed during the perceptual but not during the semantic task set. Verbal priming, in contrast, was found when either task set was activated. Furthermore, only verbal priming was associated with a modulation of the N400 ERP component, an index of semantic processing, whereas a priming-related modulation of earlier ERPs, indexing visuo-motor S-R activation, was found for both picture and words. The results thus demonstrate that different neuro-cognitive processes contribute to unconscious evaluative priming depending on the stimulus format. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Unconscious relational inference recruits the hippocampus.

PubMed

Reber, Thomas P; Luechinger, Roger; Boesiger, Peter; Henke, Katharina

2012-05-02

Relational inference denotes the capacity to encode, flexibly retrieve, and integrate multiple memories to combine past experiences to update knowledge and improve decision-making in new situations. Although relational inference is thought to depend on the hippocampus and consciousness, we now show in young, healthy men that it may occur outside consciousness but still recruits the hippocampus. In temporally distinct and unique subliminal episodes, we presented word pairs that either overlapped ("winter-red", "red-computer") or not. Effects of unconscious relational inference emerged in reaction times recorded during unconscious encoding and in the outcome of decisions made 1 min later at test, when participants judged the semantic relatedness of two supraliminal words. These words were either episodically related through a common word ("winter-computer" related through "red") or unrelated. Hippocampal activity increased during the unconscious encoding of overlapping versus nonoverlapping word pairs and during the unconscious retrieval of episodically related versus unrelated words. Furthermore, hippocampal activity during unconscious encoding predicted the outcome of decisions made at test. Hence, unconscious inference may influence decision-making in new situations.

Developing professional habits of hand hygiene in intensive care settings: An action-research intervention.

PubMed

Battistella, Giuseppe; Berto, Giuliana; Bazzo, Stefania

2017-02-01

To explore perceptions and unconscious psychological processes underlying handwashing behaviours of intensive care nurses, to implement organisational innovations for improving hand hygiene in clinical practice. An action-research intervention was performed in 2012 and 2013 in the intensive care unit of a public hospital in Italy, consisting of: structured interviews, semantic analysis, development and validation of a questionnaire, team discussion, project design and implementation. Five general workers, 16 staff nurses and 53 nurse students participated in the various stages. Social handwashing emerged as a structured and efficient habit, which follows automatically the pattern "cue/behaviour/gratification" when hands are perceived as "dirty". The perception of "dirt" starts unconsciously the process of social washing also in professional settings. Professional handwashing is perceived as goal-directed. The main concern identified is the fact that washing hands requires too much time to be performed in a setting of urgency. These findings addressed participants to develop a professional "habit-directed" hand hygiene procedure, to be implemented at beginning of workshifts. Handwashing is a ritualistic behaviour driven by deep and unconscious patterns, and social habits affect professional practice. Creating professional habits of hand hygiene could be a key solution to improve compliance in intensive care settings. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Processes of conscious and unconscious memory: evidence from current research on dissociation of memories within a test.

PubMed

Cheng, Chao-Ming; Huang, Chin-Lan

2011-01-01

The processes of conscious memory (CM) and unconscious memory (UM) are explored, based on the results of the current and previous studies in which the 2 forms of memory within a test were separated by either the process dissociation or metacognition-based dissociation procedure. The results assessing influences of shallow and deep processing, association, and self-generation on CM in explicit and implicit tests are taken as evidence that CM in a test is driven not only conceptually but also by the driving nature of the test, and CM benefits from an encoding condition to the extent that information processing for CM recapitulates that engaged in the encoding condition.Those influences on UM in explicit and implicit tests are taken to support the view that UM in a test is driven by the nature of the test itself, and UM benefits from an encoding condition to the extent that the cognitive environments at test and at study match to activate the same type of information (e.g., visual, lexical, or semantic) about memory items or the same content of a preexisting association or categorical structure.

Does Temporal Integration Occur for Unrecognizable Words in Visual Crowding?

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jifan; Lee, Chia-Lin; Li, Kuei-An; Tien, Yung-Hsuan; Yeh, Su-Ling

2016-01-01

Visual crowding—the inability to see an object when it is surrounded by flankers in the periphery—does not block semantic activation: unrecognizable words due to visual crowding still generated robust semantic priming in subsequent lexical decision tasks. Based on the previous finding, the current study further explored whether unrecognizable crowded words can be temporally integrated into a phrase. By showing one word at a time, we presented Chinese four-word idioms with either a congruent or incongruent ending word in order to examine whether the three preceding crowded words can be temporally integrated to form a semantic context so as to affect the processing of the ending word. Results from both behavioral (Experiment 1) and Event-Related Potential (Experiment 2 and 3) measures showed congruency effect in only the non-crowded condition, which does not support the existence of unconscious multi-word integration. Aside from four-word idioms, we also found that two-word (modifier + adjective combination) integration—the simplest kind of temporal semantic integration—did not occur in visual crowding (Experiment 4). Our findings suggest that integration of temporally separated words might require conscious awareness, at least under the timing conditions tested in the current study. PMID:26890366

Multisensory integration in complete unawareness: evidence from audiovisual congruency priming.

PubMed

Faivre, Nathan; Mudrik, Liad; Schwartz, Naama; Koch, Christof

2014-11-01

Multisensory integration is thought to require conscious perception. Although previous studies have shown that an invisible stimulus could be integrated with an audible one, none have demonstrated integration of two subliminal stimuli of different modalities. Here, pairs of identical or different audiovisual target letters (the sound /b/ with the written letter "b" or "m," respectively) were preceded by pairs of masked identical or different audiovisual prime digits (the sound /6/ with the written digit "6" or "8," respectively). In three experiments, awareness of the audiovisual digit primes was manipulated, such that participants were either unaware of the visual digit, the auditory digit, or both. Priming of the semantic relations between the auditory and visual digits was found in all experiments. Moreover, a further experiment showed that unconscious multisensory integration was not obtained when participants did not undergo prior conscious training of the task. This suggests that following conscious learning, unconscious processing suffices for multisensory integration. © The Author(s) 2014.

Subliminal semantic priming changes the dynamic causal influence between the left frontal and temporal cortex.

PubMed

Matsumoto, Atsushi; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2014-01-01

Recent neuroimaging experiments have revealed that subliminal priming of a target stimulus leads to the reduction of neural activity in specific regions concerned with processing the target. Such findings lead to questions about the degree to which the subliminal priming effect is based only on decreased activity in specific local brain regions, as opposed to the influence of neural mechanisms that regulate communication between brain regions. To address this question, this study recorded EEG during performance of a subliminal semantic priming task. We adopted an information-based approach that used independent component analysis and multivariate autoregressive modeling. Results indicated that subliminal semantic priming caused significant modulation of alpha band activity in the left inferior frontal cortex and modulation of gamma band activity in the left inferior temporal regions. The multivariate autoregressive approach confirmed significant increases in information flow from the inferior frontal cortex to inferior temporal regions in the early time window that was induced by subliminal priming. In the later time window, significant enhancement of bidirectional causal flow between these two regions underlying subliminal priming was observed. Results suggest that unconscious processing of words influences not only local activity of individual brain regions but also the dynamics of neural communication between those regions.

[The current conception of the unconscious - empirical results of neurobiology, cognitive sciences, social psychology and emotion research].

PubMed

Schüssler, Gerhard

2002-01-01

The influence of the unconscious on psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy: a comprehensive concept of unconscious processes based on empirical evidence. The theory of the Unconscious constitutes the basis of psychoanalysis and of psychodynamic therapy. The traditional description of the Unconscious as given by Freud is of historical significance and not only gained widespread acceptance but also attracted much criticism. The most important findings of neurobiology, the cognitive sciences, social psychology and emotion research in relation to the Unconscious are compared with this traditional definition. Empirical observations on defence mechanisms are of particular interest in this context. A comprehensive concept of unconscious processes is revealed: the fundamental process of brain function is unconscious. Parts of the symbolic-declarative and emotional-procedural processing by the brain are permanently unconscious. Other parts of these processing procedures are conscious or can be brought to the conscious or alternatively, can also be excluded from the conscious. Unconscious processes exert decisive influence on experience and behaviour; for this reason, every form of psychotherapy should take into account such unconscious processes.

Intuition in the Context of Object Perception: Intuitive Gestalt Judgments Rest on the Unconscious Activation of Semantic Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bolte, Annette; Goschke, Thomas

2008-01-01

Intuition denotes the ability to judge stimulus properties on the basis of information that is activated in memory, but not consciously retrieved. In three experiments we show that participants discriminated better than chance fragmented line drawings depicting meaningful objects (coherent fragments) from fragments consisting of randomly displaced…

Unconscious Congruency Priming from Unpracticed Words Is Modulated by Prime-Target Semantic Relatedness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortells, Juan J.; Mari-Beffa, Paloma; Plaza-Ayllon, Vanesa

2013-01-01

Participants performed a 2-choice categorization task on visible word targets that were preceded by novel (unpracticed) prime words. The prime words were presented for 33 ms and followed either immediately (Experiments 1-3) or after a variable delay (Experiments 1 and 4) by a pattern mask. Both subjective and objective measures of prime visibility…

Inducing unconscious stress: Cardiovascular activity in response to subliminal presentation of threatening and neutral words.

PubMed

van der Ploeg, Melanie M; Brosschot, Jos F; Verkuil, Bart; Gillie, Brandon L; Williams, DeWayne P; Koenig, Julian; Vasey, Michael W; Thayer, Julian F

2017-10-01

Stress-related cognitive processes may occur outside of awareness, here referred to as unconscious stress, and affect one's physiological state. Evidence supporting this idea would provide necessary clarification of the relationship between psychological stress and cardiovascular (CV) health problems. We tested the hypothesis that increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and total peripheral resistance (TPR) and decreases in heart rate variability (HRV) would be larger when threatening stimuli are presented outside of awareness, or subliminally, compared with neutral stimuli. Additionally, it was expected that trait worry and resting HRV, as common risk factors for CV disease, would moderate the effect. We presented a subliminal semantic priming paradigm to college students that were randomly assigned to the threat (n = 56) or neutral condition (n = 60) and assessed changes from baseline of MAP, TPR, and HRV. Level of trait worry was assessed with the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. The findings indicate that CV activity changed according to the hypothesized pattern: A higher MAP and TPR and a lower HRV in the threat condition compared with the neutral condition were found with practically meaningful effect sizes. However, these findings were only statistically significant for TPR. Furthermore, changes in CV activity were not moderated by trait worry or resting HRV. This is the first study to explicitly address the role of subliminally presented threat words on health-relevant outcome measures and suggests that unconscious stress can influence peripheral vascular resistance. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Unconscious symmetrical inferences: A role of consciousness in event integration.

PubMed

Alonso, Diego; Fuentes, Luis J; Hommel, Bernhard

2006-06-01

Explicit and implicit learning have been attributed to different learning processes that create different types of knowledge structures. Consistent with that claim, our study provides evidence that people integrate stimulus events differently when consciously aware versus unaware of the relationship between the events. In a first, acquisition phase participants sorted words into two categories (A and B), which were fully predicted by task-irrelevant primes-the labels of two other, semantically unrelated categories (C and D). In a second, test phase participants performed a lexical decision task, in which all word stimuli stemmed from the previous prime categories (C and D) and the (now nonpredictive) primes were the labels of the previous target categories (A and B). Reliable priming effects in the second phase demonstrated that bidirectional associations between the respective categories had been formed in the acquisition phase (A<-->C and B<-->D), but these effects were found only in participants that were unaware of the relationship between the categories! We suggest that unconscious, implicit learning of event relationships results in the rather unsophisticated integration (i.e., bidirectional association) of the underlying event representations, whereas explicit learning takes the meaning of the order of the events into account, and thus creates unidirectional associations.

Not Merely Experiential: Unconscious Thought Can Be Rational

PubMed Central

Garrison, Katie E.; Handley, Ian M.

2017-01-01

Individuals often form more reasonable judgments from complex information after a period of distraction vs. deliberation. This phenomenon has been attributed to sophisticated unconscious thought during the distraction period that integrates and organizes the information (Unconscious Thought Theory; Dijksterhuis and Nordgren, 2006). Yet, other research suggests that experiential processes are strengthened during the distraction (relative to deliberation) period, accounting for the judgment and decision benefit. We tested between these possibilities, hypothesizing that unconscious thought is distinct from experiential processes, and independently contributes to judgments and decisions during a distraction period. Using an established paradigm, Experiment 1 (N = 319) randomly induced participants into an experiential or rational mindset, after which participants received complex information describing three roommates to then consider consciously (i.e., deliberation) or unconsciously (i.e., distraction). Results revealed superior roommate judgments (but not choices) following distraction vs. deliberation, consistent with Unconscious Thought Theory. Mindset did not have an influence on roommate judgments. However, planned tests revealed a significant advantage of distraction only within the rational-mindset condition, which is contrary to the idea that experiential processing alone facilitates complex decision-making during periods of distraction. In a second experiment (N = 136), we tested whether effects of unconscious thought manifest for a complex analytical reasoning task for which experiential processing would offer no advantage. As predicted, participants in an unconscious thought condition outperformed participants in a control condition, suggesting that unconscious thought can be analytical. In sum, the current results support the existence of unconscious thinking processes that are distinct from experiential processes, and can be rational. Thus, the experiential vs. rational nature of a process might not cleanly delineate conscious and unconscious thought. PMID:28729844

Not Merely Experiential: Unconscious Thought Can Be Rational.

PubMed

Garrison, Katie E; Handley, Ian M

2017-01-01

Individuals often form more reasonable judgments from complex information after a period of distraction vs. deliberation. This phenomenon has been attributed to sophisticated unconscious thought during the distraction period that integrates and organizes the information (Unconscious Thought Theory; Dijksterhuis and Nordgren, 2006). Yet, other research suggests that experiential processes are strengthened during the distraction (relative to deliberation) period, accounting for the judgment and decision benefit. We tested between these possibilities, hypothesizing that unconscious thought is distinct from experiential processes, and independently contributes to judgments and decisions during a distraction period. Using an established paradigm, Experiment 1 ( N = 319) randomly induced participants into an experiential or rational mindset, after which participants received complex information describing three roommates to then consider consciously (i.e., deliberation) or unconsciously (i.e., distraction). Results revealed superior roommate judgments (but not choices) following distraction vs. deliberation, consistent with Unconscious Thought Theory. Mindset did not have an influence on roommate judgments. However, planned tests revealed a significant advantage of distraction only within the rational-mindset condition, which is contrary to the idea that experiential processing alone facilitates complex decision-making during periods of distraction. In a second experiment ( N = 136), we tested whether effects of unconscious thought manifest for a complex analytical reasoning task for which experiential processing would offer no advantage. As predicted, participants in an unconscious thought condition outperformed participants in a control condition, suggesting that unconscious thought can be analytical. In sum, the current results support the existence of unconscious thinking processes that are distinct from experiential processes, and can be rational. Thus, the experiential vs. rational nature of a process might not cleanly delineate conscious and unconscious thought.

Even "unconscious thought" is influenced by attentional mechanisms.

PubMed

Srinivasan, Narayanan; Mukherjee, Sumitava

2014-02-01

In this commentary, we focus on the role of attentional mechanisms in unconscious thought. We argue that even distracted or unconscious thought is capacity limited and differences in scope of attention influence processing during unconscious thought. Attention also would influence processes at different stages in the proposed lens model. We conclude that there is a clear need to understand the role of attention to better understand conscious or unconscious thought.

Category-selective attention modulates unconscious processes in the middle occipital gyrus.

PubMed

Tu, Shen; Qiu, Jiang; Martens, Ulla; Zhang, Qinglin

2013-06-01

Many studies have revealed the top-down modulation (spatial attention, attentional load, etc.) on unconscious processing. However, there is little research about how category-selective attention could modulate the unconscious processing. In the present study, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the results showed that category-selective attention modulated unconscious face/tool processing in the middle occipital gyrus (MOG). Interestingly, MOG effects were of opposed direction for face and tool processes. During unconscious face processing, activation in MOG decreased under the face-selective attention compared with tool-selective attention. This result was in line with the predictive coding theory. During unconscious tool processing, however, activation in MOG increased under the tool-selective attention compared with face-selective attention. The different effects might be ascribed to an interaction between top-down category-selective processes and bottom-up processes in the partial awareness level as proposed by Kouider, De Gardelle, Sackur, and Dupoux (2010). Specifically, we suppose an "excessive activation" hypothesis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Have We Vindicated the Motivational Unconscious Yet? A Conceptual Review

PubMed Central

Billon, Alexandre

2011-01-01

Motivationally unconscious (M-unconscious) states are unconscious states that can directly motivate a subject’s behavior and whose unconscious character typically results from a form of repression. The basic argument for M-unconscious states claims that they provide the best explanation for some seemingly non-rational behaviors, like akrasia, impulsivity, or apparent self-deception. This basic argument has been challenged on theoretical, empirical, and conceptual grounds. Drawing on recent works on apparent self-deception and on the “cognitive unconscious” I assess those objections. I argue that (i) even if there is a good theoretical argument for its existence, (ii) most empirical vindications of the M-unconscious miss their target. (iii) As for the conceptual objections, they compel us to modify the classical picture of the M-unconscious. I conclude that M-unconscious states and processes must be affective states and processes that the subject really feels and experiences – and which are in this sense conscious – even though they are not, or not well, cognitively accessible to him. Dual-process psychology and the literature on cold–hot empathy gaps partly support the existence of such M-unconscious states. PMID:21991258

Lay psychology of the hidden mental life: attribution patterns of unconscious processes.

PubMed

Maor, Ofri; Leiser, David

2013-06-01

In spite of extensive research on theory of mind, lay theories about the unconscious have scarcely been investigated. Three questionnaire studies totaling 689 participants, examined to what extent they thought that a range of psychological processes could be unconscious. It was found that people are less willing to countenance unconscious processes in themselves than in others, regardless of the time period considered--present, past or future. This is especially true when specific experience-like situations are envisioned, as opposed to considering the question in abstract or generic terms. In addition, the notion of unconscious psychological processes is resisted for certain domains in particular: intending, sensing, believing, and thinking. We interpret this pattern by positing the existence of two conceptions about the unconscious that are differentially applied according to circumstances: one originating in prevalent social representations about the unconscious, the other based on self-model of the person as an intentional actor. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Altered Negative Unconscious Processing in Major Depressive Disorder: An Exploratory Neuropsychological Study

PubMed Central

Yang, Zhi; Zhao, Jinping; Jiang, Yi; Li, Chunbo; Wang, Jijun; Weng, Xuchu; Northoff, Georg

2011-01-01

Objective Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been characterized by abnormalities in emotional processing. However, what remains unclear is whether MDD also shows deficits in the unconscious processing of either positive or negative emotions. We conducted a psychological study in healthy and MDD subjects to investigate unconscious emotion processing and its valence-specific alterations in MDD patients. Methods We combined a well established paradigm for unconscious visual processing, the continuous flash suppression, with positive and negative emotional valences to detect the attentional preference evoked by the invisible emotional facial expressions. Results Healthy subjects showed an attentional bias for negative emotions in the unconscious condition while this valence bias remained absent in MDD patients. In contrast, this attentional bias diminished in the conscious condition for both healthy subjects and MDD. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate for the first time valence-specific deficits specifically in the unconscious processing of emotions in MDD; this may have major implications for subsequent neurobiological investigations as well as for clinical diagnosis and therapy. PMID:21755006

Altered negative unconscious processing in major depressive disorder: an exploratory neuropsychological study.

PubMed

Yang, Zhi; Zhao, Jinping; Jiang, Yi; Li, Chunbo; Wang, Jijun; Weng, Xuchu; Northoff, Georg

2011-01-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been characterized by abnormalities in emotional processing. However, what remains unclear is whether MDD also shows deficits in the unconscious processing of either positive or negative emotions. We conducted a psychological study in healthy and MDD subjects to investigate unconscious emotion processing and its valence-specific alterations in MDD patients. We combined a well established paradigm for unconscious visual processing, the continuous flash suppression, with positive and negative emotional valences to detect the attentional preference evoked by the invisible emotional facial expressions. Healthy subjects showed an attentional bias for negative emotions in the unconscious condition while this valence bias remained absent in MDD patients. In contrast, this attentional bias diminished in the conscious condition for both healthy subjects and MDD. Our findings demonstrate for the first time valence-specific deficits specifically in the unconscious processing of emotions in MDD; this may have major implications for subsequent neurobiological investigations as well as for clinical diagnosis and therapy.

Unconscious response priming during continuous flash suppression

PubMed Central

Grassini, Simone

2018-01-01

Continuous flash suppression (CFS) has become a popular tool for studying unconscious processing, but the level at which unconscious processing of visual stimuli occurs under CFS is not clear. Response priming is a robust and well-understood phenomenon, in which the prime stimulus facilitates overt responses to targets if the prime and target are associated with the same response. We used CFS to study unconscious response priming of shape: arrows with left or right orientation served as primes and targets. The prime was presented near the limen of consciousness and each trial was followed by subjective rating of visibility and a forced-choice response concerning the orientation of the prime in counterbalanced order. In trials without any reported awareness of the presence of the prime, discrimination of the prime’s orientation was at chance level. However, priming was elicited in such unconscious trials. Unconscious priming was not influenced by the prime-target onset-asynchrony (SOA)/prime duration, whereas conscious processing, as indicated by the enhanced discriminability of the prime’s orientation and conscious priming, increased at the longest SOAs/prime durations. These results show that conscious and unconscious processes can be dissociated with CFS and that CFS-masking does not completely suppress unconscious visual processing of shape. PMID:29401503

On the contribution of unconscious processes to recognition memory.

PubMed

Cleary, Anne M

2012-01-01

Abstract Voss et al. review work showing unconscious contributions to recognition memory. An electrophysiological effect, the N300, appears to signify an unconscious recognition process. Whether such unconscious recognition requires highly specific experimental circumstances or can occur in typical types of recognition testing situations has remained a question. The fact that the N300 has also been shown to be the sole electrophysiological correlate of the recognition-without-identification effect that occurs with visual word fragments suggests that unconscious processes may contribute to a wider range of recognition testing situations than those originally investigated by Voss and colleagues. Some implications of this possibility are discussed.

A dual-process model of defense against conscious and unconscious death-related thoughts: an extension of terror management theory.

PubMed

Pyszczynski, T; Greenberg, J; Solomon, S

1999-10-01

Distinct defensive processes are activated by conscious and nonconscious but accessible thoughts of death. Proximal defenses, which entail suppressing death-related thoughts or pushing the problem of death into the distant future by denying one's vulnerability, are rational, threat-focused, and activated when thoughts of death are in current focal attention. Distal terror management defenses, which entail maintaining self-esteem and faith in one's cultural worldview, function to control the potential for anxiety that results from knowing that death is inevitable. These defenses are experiential, are not related to the problem of death in any semantic or logical way, and are increasingly activated as the accessibility of death-related thoughts increases, up to the point at which such thoughts enter consciousness and proximal threat-focused defenses are initiated. Experimental evidence for this analysis is presented.

Neurolinguistic Relativity: How Language Flexes Human Perception and Cognition

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The time has come, perhaps, to go beyond merely acknowledging that language is a core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are), but rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to understand how language influences—and may be influenced by—nonverbal information processing. In an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity, I review neurolinguistic studies from our research group showing a link between linguistic distinctions and perceptual or conceptual processing. On the basis of empirical evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language‐idiosyncratic relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualization, and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how languages shape human thought. PMID:27642191

Neurolinguistic Relativity: How Language Flexes Human Perception and Cognition.

PubMed

Thierry, Guillaume

2016-09-01

The time has come, perhaps, to go beyond merely acknowledging that language is a core manifestation of the workings of the human mind and that it relates interactively to all aspects of thinking. The issue, thus, is not to decide whether language and human thought may be ineluctably linked (they just are), but rather to determine what the characteristics of this relationship may be and to understand how language influences-and may be influenced by-nonverbal information processing. In an attempt to demystify linguistic relativity, I review neurolinguistic studies from our research group showing a link between linguistic distinctions and perceptual or conceptual processing. On the basis of empirical evidence showing effects of terminology on perception, language-idiosyncratic relationships in semantic memory, grammatical skewing of event conceptualization, and unconscious modulation of executive functioning by verbal input, I advocate a neurofunctional approach through which we can systematically explore how languages shape human thought.

Psychophysical "blinding" methods reveal a functional hierarchy of unconscious visual processing.

PubMed

Breitmeyer, Bruno G

2015-09-01

Numerous non-invasive experimental "blinding" methods exist for suppressing the phenomenal awareness of visual stimuli. Not all of these suppressive methods occur at, and thus index, the same level of unconscious visual processing. This suggests that a functional hierarchy of unconscious visual processing can in principle be established. The empirical results of extant studies that have used a number of different methods and additional reasonable theoretical considerations suggest the following tentative hierarchy. At the highest levels in this hierarchy is unconscious processing indexed by object-substitution masking. The functional levels indexed by crowding, the attentional blink (and other attentional blinding methods), backward pattern masking, metacontrast masking, continuous flash suppression, sandwich masking, and single-flash interocular suppression, fall at progressively lower levels, while unconscious processing at the lowest levels is indexed by eye-based binocular-rivalry suppression. Although unconscious processing levels indexed by additional blinding methods is yet to be determined, a tentative placement at lower levels in the hierarchy is also given for unconscious processing indexed by Troxler fading and adaptation-induced blindness, and at higher levels in the hierarchy indexed by attentional blinding effects in addition to the level indexed by the attentional blink. The full mapping of levels in the functional hierarchy onto cortical activation sites and levels is yet to be determined. The existence of such a hierarchy bears importantly on the search for, and the distinctions between, neural correlates of conscious and unconscious vision. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Creativity: The Role of Unconscious Processes in Idea Generation and Idea Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ritter, Simone M.; van Baaren, Rick B.; Dijksterhuis, Ap

2012-01-01

Today's world of continuous change thrives on creative individuals. Anecdotal reports suggest that creative performance benefits from unconscious processes. Empirical research on the role of the unconscious in creativity, though, is inconsistent and thus far has focused mainly on one aspect of the creative process--idea generation. This is the…

Unconscious processes, subliminal stimulation, and anxiety.

PubMed

Mayer, B; Merckelbach, H

1999-08-01

Ever since Poetzl's studies, subliminal stimulation has been used as a paradigm to explore the connection between unconscious processes and psychopathology. Inspired by the psychodynamic tradition, folk psychology attributes a dramatic power to subliminal stimulation. In contrast, most modern researchers argue that effects of subliminal stimulation are rather limited. Does that mean that the unconscious is irrelevant to psychopathology? Not necessarily. Ohman and Soares' hypothesis about the preattentive origins of phobic reactions represents a good example of a model in which a "quick and dirty" unconscious may produce pathogenic effects. Although the empirical basis of this model is still meagre, its attractiveness hinges on the assumption that "quick and dirty" processes that make up the first second of human information processing are essential for higher level analysis and performance. In line with this, recent studies have indicated that the attentional bias that accompanies pathological anxiety, might be an unconscious phenomenon. Theories that focus on unconscious cognitive processes involved in pathological anxiety are certainly interesting, but it should be emphasized that there are other aspects of automaticity (i.e., involuntariness) that may be as relevant to psychopathology as absence of awareness.

Definitely maybe: can unconscious processes perform the same functions as conscious processes?

PubMed Central

Hesselmann, Guido; Moors, Pieter

2015-01-01

Hassin recently proposed the “Yes It Can” (YIC) principle to describe the division of labor between conscious and unconscious processes in human cognition. According to this principle, unconscious processes can carry out every fundamental high-level cognitive function that conscious processes can perform. In our commentary, we argue that the author presents an overly idealized review of the literature in support of the YIC principle. Furthermore, we point out that the dissimilar trends observed in social and cognitive psychology, with respect to published evidence of strong unconscious effects, can better be explained by the way how awareness is defined and measured in both research fields. Finally, we show that the experimental paradigm chosen by Hassin to rule out remaining objections against the YIC principle is unsuited to verify the new default notion that all high-level cognitive functions can unfold unconsciously. PMID:25999896

Unconscious knowledge: A survey

PubMed Central

Augusto, Luís M.

2011-01-01

The concept of unconscious knowledge is fundamental for an understanding of human thought processes and mentation in general; however, the psychological community at large is not familiar with it. This paper offers a survey of the main psychological research currently being carried out into cognitive processes, and examines pathways that can be integrated into a discipline of unconscious knowledge. It shows that the field has already a defined history and discusses some of the features that all kinds of unconscious knowledge seem to share at a deeper level. With the aim of promoting further research, we discuss the main challenges which the postulation of unconscious cognition faces within the psychological community. PMID:21814538

The enacted unconscious: a neuropsychological model of unconscious processes.

PubMed

Ginot, Efrat

2017-10-01

Integrating neuropsychology with psychoanalytic thinking and experience, this paper offers a new view of the unconscious that veers away from more traditional conceptualizations. Rather, it emphasizes the ever-present influence of ongoing unconscious processes on much of our behaviors and mental states. Importantly, this new understanding is based on the functional unity of the brain/mind. © 2017 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of New York Academy of Sciences.

Can the meaning of multiple words be integrated unconsciously?

PubMed

van Gaal, Simon; Naccache, Lionel; Meuwese, Julia D I; van Loon, Anouk M; Leighton, Alexandra H; Cohen, Laurent; Dehaene, Stanislas

2014-05-05

What are the limits of unconscious language processing? Can language circuits process simple grammatical constructions unconsciously and integrate the meaning of several unseen words? Using behavioural priming and electroencephalography (EEG), we studied a specific rule-based linguistic operation traditionally thought to require conscious cognitive control: the negation of valence. In a masked priming paradigm, two masked words were successively (Experiment 1) or simultaneously presented (Experiment 2), a modifier ('not'/'very') and an adjective (e.g. 'good'/'bad'), followed by a visible target noun (e.g. 'peace'/'murder'). Subjects indicated whether the target noun had a positive or negative valence. The combination of these three words could either be contextually consistent (e.g. 'very bad - murder') or inconsistent (e.g. 'not bad - murder'). EEG recordings revealed that grammatical negations could unfold partly unconsciously, as reflected in similar occipito-parietal N400 effects for conscious and unconscious three-word sequences forming inconsistent combinations. However, only conscious word sequences elicited P600 effects, later in time. Overall, these results suggest that multiple unconscious words can be rapidly integrated and that an unconscious negation can automatically 'flip the sign' of an unconscious adjective. These findings not only extend the limits of subliminal combinatorial language processes, but also highlight how consciousness modulates the grammatical integration of multiple words.

Elucidating unconscious processing with instrumental hypnosis

PubMed Central

Landry, Mathieu; Appourchaux, Krystèle; Raz, Amir

2014-01-01

Most researchers leverage bottom-up suppression to unlock the underlying mechanisms of unconscious processing. However, a top-down approach – for example via hypnotic suggestion – paves the road to experimental innovation and complementary data that afford new scientific insights concerning attention and the unconscious. Drawing from a reliable taxonomy that differentiates subliminal and preconscious processing, we outline how an experimental trajectory that champions top-down suppression techniques, such as those practiced in hypnosis, is uniquely poised to further contextualize and refine our scientific understanding of unconscious processing. Examining subliminal and preconscious methods, we demonstrate how instrumental hypnosis provides a reliable adjunct that supplements contemporary approaches. Specifically, we provide an integrative synthesis of the advantages and shortcomings that accompany a top-down approach to probe the unconscious mind. Our account provides a larger framework for complementing the results from core studies involving prevailing subliminal and preconscious techniques. PMID:25120504

Complete unconscious control: Using (in)action primes to demonstrate completely unconscious activation of inhibitory control mechanisms

PubMed Central

Hepler, Justin; Albarracin, Dolores

2018-01-01

Although robust evidence indicates that action initiation can occur unconsciously and unintentionally, the literature on action inhibition suggests that inhibition requires both conscious thought and intentionality. In prior research demonstrating automatic inhibition in response to unconsciously processed stimuli, the unconscious stimuli had previously been consciously associated with an inhibitory response within the context of the experiment, and participants had consciously formed a goal to activate inhibition processes when presented with the stimuli (because task instructions required participants to engage in inhibition when the stimuli occurred). Therefore, prior work suggests that some amount of conscious thought and intentionality are required for inhibitory control. In the present research, we recorded event-related potentials during two go/no-go experiments in which participants were subliminally primed with general action/inaction concepts that had never been consciously associated with task-specific responses. We provide the first demonstration that inhibitory control processes can be modulated completely unconsciously and unintentionally. PMID:23747649

Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Neural Activity Associated with Information Selection in Open-ended Creativity.

PubMed

Zhou, Siyuan; Chen, Shi; Wang, Shuang; Zhao, Qingbai; Zhou, Zhijin; Lu, Chunming

2018-02-10

Novel information selection is a crucial process in creativity and was found to be associated with frontal-temporal functional connectivity in the right brain in closed-ended creativity. Since it has distinct cognitive processing from closed-ended creativity, the information selection in open-ended creativity might be underlain by different neural activity. To address this issue, a creative generation task of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings was adopted, and the trials were classified into novel and normal solutions according to participants' self-ratings. The results showed that (1) novel solutions induced a higher lower alpha power in the temporal area, which might be associated with the automatic, unconscious mental process of retrieving extensive semantic information, and (2) upper alpha power in both frontal and temporal areas and frontal-temporal alpha coherence were higher in novel solutions than in normal solutions, which might reflect the selective inhibition of semantic information. Furthermore, lower alpha power in the temporal area showed a reduction with time, while the frontal-temporal and temporal-temporal coherence in the upper alpha band appeared to increase from the early to the middle phase. These dynamic changes in neural activity might reflect the transformation from divergent thinking to convergent thinking in the creative progress. The advantage of the right brain in frontal-temporal connectivity was not found in the present work, which might result from the diversity of solutions in open-ended creativity. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[False recognition of faces associated with fronto-temporal dementia with prosopagnosia].

PubMed

Verstichel, P

2005-09-01

The association of prosopagnosia and false recognition of faces is unusual and contributes to our understanding of the generation of facial familiarity. A 67-year-old man with a left prefrontal traumatic lesion, developed a temporal variety of fronto-temporal dementia (semantic dementia) with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Cerebral imagery demonstrated a bilateral, temporal anterior atrophy predominating in the right hemisphere. The main cognitive signs consisted in severe difficulties to recognize faces of familiar people (prosopagnosia), associated with systematic false recognition of unfamiliar people. Neuropsychological testing indicated that the prosopagnosia probably resulted from the association of an associative/mnemonic mechanism (inability to activate the Face Recognition Units (FRU) from the visual input) and a semantic mechanism (degradation of semantic/biographical information or deconnexion between FRU and this information). At the early stage of the disease, the patient could activate residual semantic information about individuals from their names, but after a 4-year course, he failed to do so. This worsening could be attributed to the extension of the degenerative lesions to the left temporal lobe. Familiar and unfamiliar faces triggered a marked feeling of knowing. False recognition concerned all the unfamiliar faces, and the patient claimed spontaneously that they corresponded to actors, but he could not provide any additional information about their specific identities. The coexistence of prosopagnosia and false recognition suggests the existence of different interconnected systems processing face recognition, one intended to identification of individuals, and the other producing the sense of familiarity. Dysfunctions at different stages of one or the other of these two processes could result in distortions in the feeling of knowing. From this case and others reported in literature, we propose to complete the classical model of face processing by adding a pathway linked to limbic system and frontal structures. This later pathway could normally emit signals for familiarity, essentially autonomic, in response to the familiar faces. These signals, primitively unconscious, secondly reach consciousness and are then integrated by a central supervisor system which evaluates and verifies identity-specific biographical information in order to make a decision about the sense of familiarity.

Is Schizophrenia a Disorder of Consciousness? Experimental and Phenomenological Support for Anomalous Unconscious Processing

PubMed Central

Giersch, Anne; Mishara, Aaron L.

2017-01-01

Decades ago, several authors have proposed that disorders in automatic processing lead to intrusive symptoms or abnormal contents in the consciousness of people with schizophrenia. However, since then, studies have mainly highlighted difficulties in patients’ conscious experiencing and processing but rarely explored how unconscious and conscious mechanisms may interact in producing this experience. We report three lines of research, focusing on the processing of spatial frequencies, unpleasant information, and time-event structure that suggest that impairments occur at both the unconscious and conscious level. We argue that focusing on unconscious, physiological and automatic processing of information in patients, while contrasting that processing with conscious processing, is a first required step before understanding how distortions or other impairments emerge at the conscious level. We then indicate that the phenomenological tradition of psychiatry supports a similar claim and provides a theoretical framework helping to understand the relationship between the impairments and clinical symptoms. We base our argument on the presence of disorders in the minimal self in patients with schizophrenia. The minimal self is tacit and non-verbal and refers to the sense of bodily presence. We argue this sense is shaped by unconscious processes, whose alteration may thus affect the feeling of being a unique individual. This justifies a focus on unconscious mechanisms and a distinction from those associated with consciousness. PMID:29033868

Unconscious processing of emotions and the right hemisphere.

PubMed

Gainotti, Guido

2012-01-01

This survey takes into account the unconscious aspects of emotions and the critical role played in them by the right hemisphere, considering different acceptations of the term 'unconscious'. In a preliminary step, the nature of emotions, their componential and hierarchical organization and the relationships between emotions and hemispheric specialization are shortly discussed, then different aspects of emotions are surveyed: first are reviewed studies dealing with the unconscious processing of emotional information, taking separately into account various lines of research. All these studies suggest that unconscious processing of emotional information is mainly subsumed by a right hemisphere subcortical route, through which emotional stimuli quickly reach the amygdala. We afterwards inquire if a right hemisphere dominance can also be observed in automatic emotional action schemata and if 'non-removed preverbal implicit memories' also have a preferential link with the right hemisphere. Finally, we try to evaluate if the right hemisphere may also play a critical role in dynamic unconscious phenomena, such as anosognosia/denial of hemiplegia in patients with unilateral brain lesions. In the last part of the review, the reasons that could subsume the right hemisphere dominance for unconscious emotions are shortly discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visible propagation from invisible exogenous cueing.

PubMed

Lin, Zhicheng; Murray, Scott O

2013-09-20

Perception and performance is affected not just by what we see but also by what we do not see-inputs that escape our awareness. While conscious processing and unconscious processing have been assumed to be separate and independent, here we report the propagation of unconscious exogenous cueing as determined by conscious motion perception. In a paradigm combining masked exogenous cueing and apparent motion, we show that, when an onset cue was rendered invisible, the unconscious exogenous cueing effect traveled, manifesting at uncued locations (4° apart) in accordance with conscious perception of visual motion; the effect diminished when the cue-to-target distance was 8° apart. In contrast, conscious exogenous cueing manifested in both distances. Further evidence reveals that the unconscious and conscious nonretinotopic effects could not be explained by an attentional gradient, nor by bottom-up, energy-based motion mechanisms, but rather they were subserved by top-down, tracking-based motion mechanisms. We thus term these effects mobile cueing. Taken together, unconscious mobile cueing effects (a) demonstrate a previously unknown degree of flexibility of unconscious exogenous attention; (b) embody a simultaneous dissociation and association of attention and consciousness, in which exogenous attention can occur without cue awareness ("dissociation"), yet at the same time its effect is contingent on conscious motion tracking ("association"); and (c) underscore the interaction of conscious and unconscious processing, providing evidence for an unconscious effect that is not automatic but controlled.

Unconscious cathexis of dream symbols as measured by the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement.

PubMed

Webb, D E; Craddick, R A

1993-10-01

This study measured unconscious cathexis and conscious association with dream content, using the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement (KTSA), with subjects reporting recurring, past-recurring, and nonrecurring dreams. Unconscious cathexis of dream content was noted for recurring dreamers; conscious association with dream content was not. The results suggest that the KTSA is a valuable instrument for the empirical study of unconscious processes and that the contents of recurring dreams are particularly salient in a dreamer's unconscious.

Regressive research: The pitfalls of post hoc data selection in the study of unconscious mental processes.

PubMed

Shanks, David R

2017-06-01

Many studies of unconscious processing involve comparing a performance measure (e.g., some assessment of perception or memory) with an awareness measure (such as a verbal report or a forced-choice response) taken either concurrently or separately. Unconscious processing is inferred when above-chance performance is combined with null awareness. Often, however, aggregate awareness is better than chance, and data analysis therefore employs a form of extreme group analysis focusing post hoc on participants, trials, or items where awareness is absent or at chance. The pitfalls of this analytic approach are described with particular reference to recent research on implicit learning and subliminal perception. Because of regression to the mean, the approach can mislead researchers into erroneous conclusions concerning unconscious influences on behavior. Recommendations are made about future use of post hoc selection in research on unconscious cognition.

The tendency of unconscious thought toward global processing style.

PubMed

Li, Jiansheng; Wang, Fan; Shen, Mowei; Fan, Gang

2017-08-01

This study explored whether unconscious thought has a tendency to process information globally. In three experiments, a Navon task was used to activate global or local processing styles. Findings showed that in the unconscious-thought groups, those performing the local Navon task presented a poorer decision-making performance when compared to those performing the global Navon task (Experiment 1); participants reported that their judgments were made based on partial attributes (Experiment 2), and evaluated a target individual mainly based on information consistent with stereotypes (Experiment 3). These results showed that when presented with distracter tasks, conscious thought activates local processing, which impairs its ability to process information globally. However, this impairment would not happen if global processing were activated instead. This study provides support to the idea that unconscious thought has a tendency to process information globally. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spared unconscious influences of spatial memory in diencephalic amnesia

PubMed Central

Antonides, Rémy; Wester, Arie J.; Kessels, Roy P. C.

2008-01-01

Spatial memory is crucial to our daily lives and in part strongly depends on automatic, implicit memory processes. This study investigates the neurocognitive basis of conscious and unconscious influences of object–location memory in amnesic patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome (N = 23) and healthy controls (N = 18) using a process-dissociation procedure in a computerized spatial memory task. As expected, the patients performed substantially worse on the conscious memory measures but showed even slightly stronger effects of unconscious influences than the controls. Moreover, a delayed test administered after 1 week revealed a strong decline in conscious influences in the patients, while unconscious influences were not affected. The presented results suggest that conscious and unconscious influences of spatial memory can be clearly dissociated in Korsakoff’s syndrome. PMID:18560813

Unconscious manipulation of free choice by novel primes.

PubMed

Ocampo, Brenda

2015-07-01

The extent to which non-conscious perception can influence behaviour has been a topic of considerable controversy in psychology for decades. Although a challenging task, convincing empirical demonstrations have emerged suggesting that non-consciously perceived 'prime' stimuli can influence motor responses to subsequent targets. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that the influence of masked primes is not restricted to target-elicited responses, but can also bias free-choices between alternative behaviours. The present experiment extends these findings by showing that free-choices could also be biased by novel primes that never appeared as targets and therefore could not trigger acquired stimulus-response (S-R) mappings. This new evidence suggests that free-choice behaviour can be influenced by non-consciously triggered semantic representations. Furthermore, the results reported here support accounts of masked priming that posit an automatic semantic categorisation of non-consciously perceived visual stimuli. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effects of subliminal symbiotic stimulation on free-response and self-report mood.

PubMed

Weinberger, J; Kelner, S; McClelland, D

1997-10-01

Research has shown that subliminal presentation of MOMMY AND I ARE ONE (MIO) can help improve adaptive functioning. Two experiments tried to determine whether changes in mood, especially free-response mood, could help explain these findings. In one experiment, 20 men were randomly assigned to receive either a subliminal MIO or control stimulus. Results showed predicted effects on a free-response and no effects on a self-report mood measure. In the other experiment, 54 male subjects randomly received one of three subliminal stimuli. They evidenced the same pattern of mood results. Sentential semantics were shown to be relevant to the obtained results. Ascending threshold and 150 forced-choice discrimination trials demonstrated that subjects could not report stimulus content. It was concluded that MIO effects were attributable to unconscious processing of the entire message and that free-response mood may partly mediate these effects. Suggestions for future research were offered.

Delving within: the new science of the unconscious.

PubMed

Paulson, Steve; Berlin, Heather A; Ginot, Efrat; Makari, George

2017-10-01

What exactly is the relationship between conscious awareness and the unconscious mind? How, for example, does the brain classify and sort its different functions into conscious or unconscious processes? How has the history of human conceptualizations about the unconscious influenced current theories? Steve Paulson, executive producer of To the Best of Our Knowledge, moderated a discussion among neuroscientist Heather Berlin, psychologist Efrat Ginot, and psychiatrist George Makari to shed light on the history of the mind and the latest insights into the still emerging science of the unconscious. © 2017 New York Academy of Sciences.

Does unconscious thought improve complex decision making?

PubMed

Rey, Arnaud; Goldstein, Ryan M; Perruchet, Pierre

2009-05-01

In a recent study, Dijksterhuis et al. (Science 311:1005, 2006) reported that participants were better at solving complex decisions after a period of unconscious thought relative to a period of conscious thought. They interpreted their results as an existence proof of powerful unconscious deliberation mechanisms. In the present report, we used a similar experimental design with an additional control, immediate condition, and we observed that participants produced as good (and even descriptively better) decisions in this condition than in the "unconscious" one, hence challenging the initial interpretation of the authors. However, we still obtained lower performances in the "conscious" relative to the "immediate" condition, suggesting that the initial result of Dijksterhuis et al. was not due to the action of powerful unconscious thought processes, but to the apparent disadvantage of further conscious processing. We provide an explanation for this observation on the basis of current models of decision making. It is finally concluded that the benefit of unconscious thought in complex decision making is still a controversial issue that should be considered cautiously.

The Four Postulates of Freudian Unconscious Neurocognitive Convergences

PubMed Central

Arminjon, Mathieu

2011-01-01

In the 1980s, the terms “cognitive unconscious” were invented to denominate a perspective on unconscious mental processes independent from the psychoanalytical views. For several reasons, the two approaches to unconscious are generally conceived as irreducible. Nowadays, we are witnessing a certain convergence between both fields. The aim of this paper consists in examining the four basic postulates of Freudian unconscious at the light of neurocognitive sciences. They posit: (1) that some psychological processes are unconsciously performed and causally determine conscious processes, (2) that they are governed by their own cognitive rules, (3) that they set out their own intentions, (4) and that they lead to a conflicting organization of psyche. We show that each of these postulates is the subject of empirical and theoretical works. If the two fields refer to more or less similar mechanisms, we propose that their opposition rests on an epistemological misunderstanding. As a conclusion, we promote a conservative reunification of the two perspectives. PMID:21734896

Freud and Klein on the concept of phantasy.

PubMed

Spillius, E B

2001-04-01

In summary, I think Freud's idea is that the prime mover of psychic life is the unconscious wish, not phantasy. The 'work' of making phantasies and the 'work' of making dreams are parallel processes in which forbidden unconscious wishes achieve disguised expression and partial fulfilment. For Freud himself, especially in his central usage, and even more for his immediate followers, phantasies are conceived as imagined fulfilments of frustrated wishes. Whether they originate in the system conscious or the system preconscious, they are an activity of the ego and are formed according to the principles of the secondary process. That is not the whole story, however, because phantasies may get repressed into the system unconscious, where they become associated with the instinctual wishes, become subject to the laws of the primary process, and may find their way into dreams and many other derivatives. For Freud and for French psychoanalysts particularly, there are the primal phantasies, 'unconscious all along', of the primal scene, castration and seduction, also capable of being directly incorporated into dreams and expressed through other derivatives. For Klein phantasy is an even more central concept than for Freud and it has continued to be used by her successors with only minor changes. In Klein's thinking unconscious phantasies play the part that Freud assigned to the unconscious wish. They underlie dreams rather than being parallel to them--a much more inclusive definition of phantasy than Freud's. The earliest and most deeply unconscious phantasies are bodily, and only gradually, with maturation and developing experience through introjection and projection do some of them come to take a verbal form. Freud's central usage, the wish-fulfilling definition of phantasy, is a particular type of phantasy within Klein's more inclusive definition. And, as in Freud's formulation, conscious phantasies may be repressed, but in Klein's formulation this is not the only or even the main source of unconscious phantasies. In Klein's usage, unconscious phantasies underlie not only dreams but all thought and activity, both creative and destructive, including the expression of internal object relations in the analytic situation. Finally, it is my tentative suggestion that conceptual and clinical focus on the concept of phantasy, especially unconscious phantasy, as in Britain and France, tends to involve a heightened awareness of the unconscious--hardly surprising, since unconscious phantasy is such a fundamental aspect of the unconscious. I have suggested that, although there are many individual variations, the structural model and the self-psychology, relational and intersubjectivist models tend to discourage focus on the dynamic unconscious.

Unconscious decisional learning improves unconscious information processing.

PubMed

Vlassova, Alexandra; Pearson, Joel

2018-07-01

The idea that unconscious input can result in long-term learning or task improvement has been debated for decades, yet there is still little evidence to suggest that learning outside of awareness can produce meaningful changes to decision-making. Here we trained participants using noisy motion stimuli, which require the gradual accumulation of information until a decision can be reached. These stimuli were suppressed from conscious awareness by simultaneously presenting a dynamic dichoptic mask. We show that a short period of training on either a partially or fully suppressed motion stimulus resulted in improved accuracy when tested on a partially suppressed motion stimulus traveling in the orthogonal direction. We found this improvement occurred even when performance on the training task was at chance. Performance gains generalized across motion directions, suggesting that the improvement was the result of changes to the decisional mechanisms rather than perceptual. Interestingly, unconscious learning had a stronger effect on unconscious, compared to conscious decisional accumulation. We further show that a conscious coherent percept is necessary to reap the benefits of unconscious learning. Together, these data suggest that unconscious decisional processing can be improved via training. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring the unconscious using faces.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Bar, Moshe; Rees, Geraint

2015-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms of unconscious processing is one of the most substantial endeavors of cognitive science. While there are many different empirical ways to address this question, the use of faces in such research has proven exceptionally fruitful. We review here what has been learned about unconscious processing through the use of faces and face-selective neural correlates. A large number of cognitive systems can be explored with faces, including emotions, social cueing and evaluation, attention, multisensory integration, and various aspects of face processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conscious Cooperation with the Individuating Adult Learner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spear, Stephen B.

2014-01-01

Fundamental to the process of Jungian individuation is the integration of ego consciousness and unconsciousness. For this to occur, the ego must be willing to consciously cooperate with the unconscious, acknowledging and nonjudgmentally accepting the imaginal communications that flow from it. The ego's decision to cooperate with the unconscious is…

The pervasive nature of unconscious social information processing in executive control

PubMed Central

Prabhakaran, Ranjani; Gray, Jeremy R.

2012-01-01

Humans not only have impressive executive abilities, but we are also fundamentally social creatures. In the cognitive neuroscience literature, it has long been assumed that executive control mechanisms, which play a critical role in guiding goal-directed behavior, operate on consciously processed information. Although more recent evidence suggests that unconsciously processed information can also influence executive control, most of this literature has focused on visual masked priming paradigms. However, the social psychological literature has demonstrated that unconscious influences are pervasive, and social information can unintentionally influence a wide variety of behaviors, including some that are likely to require executive abilities. For example, social information can unconsciously influence attention processes, such that simply instructing participants to describe a previous situation in which they had power over someone or someone else had power over them has been shown to unconsciously influence their attentional focus abilities, a key aspect of executive control. In the current review, we consider behavioral and neural findings from a variety of paradigms, including priming of goals and social hierarchical roles, as well as interpersonal interactions, in order to highlight the pervasive nature of social influences on executive control. These findings suggest that social information can play a critical role in executive control, and that this influence often occurs in an unconscious fashion. We conclude by suggesting further avenues of research for investigation of the interplay between social factors and executive control. PMID:22557956

Unconscious-thought effects take place off-line, not on-line.

PubMed

Strick, Madelijn; Dijksterhuis, Ap; van Baaren, Rick B

2010-04-01

The unconscious-thought effect refers to an improvement in decision making following distraction from the decision context for a period of time. The dominant explanation for this effect is that unconscious processes continue to deal with the problem during the distraction period. Recently, however, some researchers have proposed that unconscious thinkers may be merely recalling a judgment that was formed on-line (i.e., during information acquisition). We present two experiments that rule out the latter interpretation. In the unconscious-thought condition of the first experiment, participants who reported making their decision after unconscious thought made better decisions than those who reported making their decision on-line. In the second experiment, all participants judged the choice alternatives both on-line and off-line. On-line judgments were predictive of off-line judgments only in the immediate-decision condition, but not in the conscious- and unconscious-thought conditions. These results demonstrate that a period of unconscious thought does improve judgments that were formed earlier on-line.

The Role of Unconscious Information Processing in the Acquisition and Learning of Instructional Messages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuldas, Seffetullah; Bakar, Zainudin Abu; Ismail, Hairul Nizam

2012-01-01

This review investigates how the unconscious information processing can create satisfactory learning outcomes, and can be used to ameliorate the challenges of teaching students to regulate their learning processes. The search for the ideal model of human information processing as regards achievement of teaching and learning objectives is a…

Neural correlates of phonetic convergence and speech imitation.

PubMed

Garnier, Maëva; Lamalle, Laurent; Sato, Marc

2013-01-01

Speakers unconsciously tend to mimic their interlocutor's speech during communicative interaction. This study aims at examining the neural correlates of phonetic convergence and deliberate imitation, in order to explore whether imitation of phonetic features, deliberate, or unconscious, might reflect a sensory-motor recalibration process. Sixteen participants listened to vowels with pitch varying around the average pitch of their own voice, and then produced the identified vowels, while their speech was recorded and their brain activity was imaged using fMRI. Three degrees and types of imitation were compared (unconscious, deliberate, and inhibited) using a go-nogo paradigm, which enabled the comparison of brain activations during the whole imitation process, its active perception step, and its production. Speakers followed the pitch of voices they were exposed to, even unconsciously, without being instructed to do so. After being informed about this phenomenon, 14 participants were able to inhibit it, at least partially. The results of whole brain and ROI analyses support the fact that both deliberate and unconscious imitations are based on similar neural mechanisms and networks, involving regions of the dorsal stream, during both perception and production steps of the imitation process. While no significant difference in brain activation was found between unconscious and deliberate imitations, the degree of imitation, however, appears to be determined by processes occurring during the perception step. Four regions of the dorsal stream: bilateral auditory cortex, bilateral supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and left Wernicke's area, indeed showed an activity that correlated significantly with the degree of imitation during the perception step.

Does AIDS involve some collusion by the neuro-immune system because of positive learning of the disarmament strategy?

PubMed

Sandoz, Patrick

2013-04-01

Korzybski's general semantics recommends considering living beings as organisms-as-a-whole in their environment. Our cognitive abilities, specific to the human species, have thus to be taken into account. In this framework we establish a semantic similarity between particular stressful events of the 20th century and AIDS in which the immune-deficiency-caused is semiotically seen as a biological state of disarmament of the organism. It then appears that: These observations suggest that AIDS could benefit from some collusion by the neuro-immune system because of positive learning of the semiotic concept of disarmament, thus making the terrain favorable to the germ in response to intense stress. The disease would then result from a conditioning process based on semiotics and involve some confusion at the level of the unconscious cognitive system between disarmament toward outside the body and disarmament toward inside the body. This hypothesis is discussed within a multidisciplinary perspective considering the specificities of our modern lifestyles, the cybernetic ability of signs to control metabolism and behavior, and the recent advances of epigenetics and cognition sciences. This hypothesis may explain the multiple cross-species transmissions of the immunodeficiency virus into humans during the 20th century. Further research is suggested for evaluating this hypothesis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Your Unconscious Knows Your Name

PubMed Central

Pfister, Roland; Pohl, Carsten; Kiesel, Andrea; Kunde, Wilfried

2012-01-01

One's own name constitutes a unique part of conscious awareness – but does this also hold true for unconscious processing? The present study shows that the own name has the power to bias a person's actions unconsciously even in conditions that render any other name ineffective. Participants judged whether a letter string on the screen was a name or a non-word while this target stimulus was preceded by a masked prime stimulus. Crucially, the participant's own name was among these prime stimuli and facilitated reactions to following name targets whereas the name of another, yoked participant did not. Signal detection results confirmed that participants were not aware of any of the prime stimuli, including their own name. These results extend traditional findings on “breakthrough” phenomena of personally relevant stimuli to the domain of unconscious processing. Thus, the brain seems to possess adroit mechanisms to identify and process such stimuli even in the absence of conscious awareness. PMID:22403652

Your unconscious knows your name.

PubMed

Pfister, Roland; Pohl, Carsten; Kiesel, Andrea; Kunde, Wilfried

2012-01-01

One's own name constitutes a unique part of conscious awareness - but does this also hold true for unconscious processing? The present study shows that the own name has the power to bias a person's actions unconsciously even in conditions that render any other name ineffective. Participants judged whether a letter string on the screen was a name or a non-word while this target stimulus was preceded by a masked prime stimulus. Crucially, the participant's own name was among these prime stimuli and facilitated reactions to following name targets whereas the name of another, yoked participant did not. Signal detection results confirmed that participants were not aware of any of the prime stimuli, including their own name. These results extend traditional findings on "breakthrough" phenomena of personally relevant stimuli to the domain of unconscious processing. Thus, the brain seems to possess adroit mechanisms to identify and process such stimuli even in the absence of conscious awareness.

Unconscious emotion: A cognitive neuroscientific perspective.

PubMed

Smith, Ryan; Lane, Richard D

2016-10-01

While psychiatry and clinical psychology have long discussed the topic of unconscious emotion, and its potentially explanatory role in psychopathology, this topic has only recently begun to receive attention within cognitive neuroscience. In contrast, neuroscientific research on conscious vs. unconscious processes within perception, memory, decision-making, and cognitive control has seen considerable advances in the last two decades. In this article, we extrapolate from this work, as well as from recent neural models of emotion processing, to outline multiple plausible neuro-cognitive mechanisms that may be able to explain why various aspects of one's own emotional reactions can remain unconscious in specific circumstances. While some of these mechanisms involve top-down or motivated factors, others instead arise due to bottom-up processing deficits. Finally, we discuss potential implications that these different mechanisms may have for therapeutic intervention, as well as how they might be tested in future research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of Unconscious Awareness of Teachers within Teacher-Child Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gölbasi, Elçin; Önder, Alev

2017-01-01

This article is a descriptive study which aims to investigate preschool teachers' awareness of their own unconscious and the contribution of unconscious processes to educational activities. It presents a literary review on education as a meeting of the teacher and student at a certain point in time and space, not only at a knowledge level but also…

Right Hemispheric Dominance in Processing of Unconscious Negative Emotion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sato, Wataru; Aoki, Satoshi

2006-01-01

Right hemispheric dominance in unconscious emotional processing has been suggested, but remains controversial. This issue was investigated using the subliminal affective priming paradigm combined with unilateral visual presentation in 40 normal subjects. In either left or right visual fields, angry facial expressions, happy facial expressions, or…

Connecting Conscious and Unconscious Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cleeremans, Axel

2014-01-01

Consciousness remains a mystery--"a phenomenon that people do not know how to think about--yet" (Dennett, D. C., 1991, p. 21). Here, I consider how the connectionist perspective on information processing may help us progress toward the goal of understanding the computational principles through which conscious and unconscious processing…

Age Differences in the Effects of Conscious and Unconscious Thought in Decision Making

PubMed Central

Queen, Tara L.; Hess, Thomas M.

2010-01-01

The roles of unconscious and conscious thought in decision making were investigated to examine both (a) boundary conditions associated with the efficacy of each type of thought and (b) age differences in intuitive versus deliberative thought. Participants were presented with two decision tasks, one requiring active deliberation and the other intuitive processing. Younger and older adults then engaged in conscious or unconscious thought processing before making a decision. A manipulation check revealed that younger adults were more accurate in their representations of the decision material than older adults, which accounted for much of the age-related variation in performance when the full sample was considered. When only considering accurate participants, decision making was best when there was congruence between the nature of the information and the thought condition. Thus, unconscious thought was more appropriate when the decision relied on intuitive rather than deliberative processing, whereas the converse was true with conscious thought. Although older adults displayed somewhat less efficient deliberative processing, their ability to process information at the intuitive level was relatively preserved. Additionally, both young and older adults displayed choice-supportive memory. PMID:20545411

Unconscious affective processing and empathy: an investigation of subliminal priming on the detection of painful facial expressions.

PubMed

Yamada, Makiko; Decety, Jean

2009-05-01

Results from recent functional neuroimaging studies suggest that facial expressions of pain trigger empathic mimicry responses in the observer, in the sense of an activation in the pain matrix. However, pain itself also signals a potential threat in the environment and urges individuals to escape or avoid its source. This evolutionarily primitive aspect of pain processing, i.e., avoidance from the threat value of pain, seems to conflict with the emergence of empathic concern, i.e., a motivation to approach toward the other. The present study explored whether the affective values of targets influence the detection of pain at the unconscious level. We found that the detection of pain was facilitated by unconscious negative affective processing rather than by positive affective processing. This suggests that detection of pain is primarily influenced by its inherent threat value, and that empathy and empathic concern may not rely on a simple reflexive resonance as generally thought. The results of this study provide a deeper understanding of how fundamental the unconscious detection of pain is to the processes involved in the experience of empathy and sympathy.

Unconscious relational encoding depends on hippocampus

PubMed Central

Duss, Simone B.; Reber, Thomas P.; Hänggi, Jürgen; Schwab, Simon; Wiest, Roland; Müri, René M.; Brugger, Peter; Gutbrod, Klemens

2014-01-01

Textbooks divide between human memory systems based on consciousness. Hippocampus is thought to support only conscious encoding, while neocortex supports both conscious and unconscious encoding. We tested whether processing modes, not consciousness, divide between memory systems in three neuroimaging experiments with 11 amnesic patients (mean age = 45.55 years, standard deviation = 8.74, range = 23–60) and 11 matched healthy control subjects. Examined processing modes were single item versus relational encoding with only relational encoding hypothesized to depend on hippocampus. Participants encoded and later retrieved either single words or new relations between words. Consciousness of encoding was excluded by subliminal (invisible) word presentation. Amnesic patients and controls performed equally well on the single item task activating prefrontal cortex. But only the controls succeeded on the relational task activating the hippocampus, while amnesic patients failed as a group. Hence, unconscious relational encoding, but not unconscious single item encoding, depended on hippocampus. Yet, three patients performed normally on unconscious relational encoding in spite of amnesia capitalizing on spared hippocampal tissue and connections to language cortex. This pattern of results suggests that processing modes divide between memory systems, while consciousness divides between levels of function within a memory system. PMID:25273998

Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception: From a plethora of phenomena to general principles

PubMed Central

Kiefer, Markus; Ansorge, Ulrich; Haynes, John-Dylan; Hamker, Fred; Mattler, Uwe; Verleger, Rolf; Niedeggen, Michael

2011-01-01

Psychological and neuroscience approaches have promoted much progress in elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie phenomenal visual awareness during the last decades. In this article, we provide an overview of the latest research investigating important phenomena in conscious and unconscious vision. We identify general principles to characterize conscious and unconscious visual perception, which may serve as important building blocks for a unified model to explain the plethora of findings. We argue that in particular the integration of principles from both conscious and unconscious vision is advantageous and provides critical constraints for developing adequate theoretical models. Based on the principles identified in our review, we outline essential components of a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual perception. We propose that awareness refers to consolidated visual representations, which are accessible to the entire brain and therefore globally available. However, visual awareness not only depends on consolidation within the visual system, but is additionally the result of a post-sensory gating process, which is mediated by higher-level cognitive control mechanisms. We further propose that amplification of visual representations by attentional sensitization is not exclusive to the domain of conscious perception, but also applies to visual stimuli, which remain unconscious. Conscious and unconscious processing modes are highly interdependent with influences in both directions. We therefore argue that exactly this interdependence renders a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual perception valuable. Computational modeling jointly with focused experimental research could lead to a better understanding of the plethora of empirical phenomena in consciousness research. PMID:22253669

Neural correlates of phonetic convergence and speech imitation

PubMed Central

Garnier, Maëva; Lamalle, Laurent; Sato, Marc

2013-01-01

Speakers unconsciously tend to mimic their interlocutor's speech during communicative interaction. This study aims at examining the neural correlates of phonetic convergence and deliberate imitation, in order to explore whether imitation of phonetic features, deliberate, or unconscious, might reflect a sensory-motor recalibration process. Sixteen participants listened to vowels with pitch varying around the average pitch of their own voice, and then produced the identified vowels, while their speech was recorded and their brain activity was imaged using fMRI. Three degrees and types of imitation were compared (unconscious, deliberate, and inhibited) using a go-nogo paradigm, which enabled the comparison of brain activations during the whole imitation process, its active perception step, and its production. Speakers followed the pitch of voices they were exposed to, even unconsciously, without being instructed to do so. After being informed about this phenomenon, 14 participants were able to inhibit it, at least partially. The results of whole brain and ROI analyses support the fact that both deliberate and unconscious imitations are based on similar neural mechanisms and networks, involving regions of the dorsal stream, during both perception and production steps of the imitation process. While no significant difference in brain activation was found between unconscious and deliberate imitations, the degree of imitation, however, appears to be determined by processes occurring during the perception step. Four regions of the dorsal stream: bilateral auditory cortex, bilateral supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and left Wernicke's area, indeed showed an activity that correlated significantly with the degree of imitation during the perception step. PMID:24062704

Neural processing of visual information under interocular suppression: a critical review

PubMed Central

Sterzer, Philipp; Stein, Timo; Ludwig, Karin; Rothkirch, Marcus; Hesselmann, Guido

2014-01-01

When dissimilar stimuli are presented to the two eyes, only one stimulus dominates at a time while the other stimulus is invisible due to interocular suppression. When both stimuli are equally potent in competing for awareness, perception alternates spontaneously between the two stimuli, a phenomenon called binocular rivalry. However, when one stimulus is much stronger, e.g., due to higher contrast, the weaker stimulus can be suppressed for prolonged periods of time. A technique that has recently become very popular for the investigation of unconscious visual processing is continuous flash suppression (CFS): High-contrast dynamic patterns shown to one eye can render a low-contrast stimulus shown to the other eye invisible for up to minutes. Studies using CFS have produced new insights but also controversies regarding the types of visual information that can be processed unconsciously as well as the neural sites and the relevance of such unconscious processing. Here, we review the current state of knowledge in regard to neural processing of interocularly suppressed information. Focusing on recent neuroimaging findings, we discuss whether and to what degree such suppressed visual information is processed at early and more advanced levels of the visual processing hierarchy. We review controversial findings related to the influence of attention on early visual processing under interocular suppression, the putative differential roles of dorsal and ventral areas in unconscious object processing, and evidence suggesting privileged unconscious processing of emotional and other socially relevant information. On a more general note, we discuss methodological and conceptual issues, from practical issues of how unawareness of a stimulus is assessed to the overarching question of what constitutes an adequate operational definition of unawareness. Finally, we propose approaches for future research to resolve current controversies in this exciting research area. PMID:24904469

Increased response time of primed associates following an "episodic" hypnotic amnesia suggestion: a case of unconscious volition.

PubMed

Smith, Caleb Henry; Oakley, David A; Morton, John

2013-12-01

Following a hypnotic amnesia suggestion, highly hypnotically suggestible subjects may experience amnesia for events. Is there a failure to retrieve the material concerned from autobiographical (episodic) memory, or is it retrieved but blocked from consciousness? Highly hypnotically suggestible subjects produced free-associates to a list of concrete nouns. They were then given an amnesia suggestion for that episode followed by another free association list, which included 15 critical words that had been previously presented. If episodic retrieval for the first trial had been blocked, the responses on the second trial should still have been at least as fast as for the first trial. With semantic priming, they should be faster. In fact, they were on average half a second slower. This suggests that the material had been retrieved but blocked from consciousness. A goal-oriented information processing framework is outlined to interpret these and related data. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Sigmund Freud, Rudolf Meringer and Carl Mayer: slips of the tongue and mis-readings. The history of a controversy].

PubMed

Hinterhuber, Hartmann

2007-01-01

In both his The Psychopathology of Everyday Life and his Lectures Sigmund Freud derived the terms unconscious, preconscious and conscious, particularly from slips in speech, slips in reading and forgetfulness. In these slips, Freud recognised parallels to dreams. In the work mentioned, he analysed these in depth as part of mental motivation. In the papers referred to, Sigmund Freud paid tribute to Rudolf Meringer and Carl Mayer's study which was published in 1895. Meringer and Mayer showed as phenomena reversals and rearrangement of whole words, syllables or sounds, along with pre-tones or anticipations and echoes, word contaminations and word substitutions as responsible for slips of the tongue. The present work demonstrates how passionately these three scientists have contributed to the controversy of their standpoints. For modern psycholinguistics and the psychology of language, speech errors are always an expression of a momentary malfunction of the human speech production system: for the cognitive process of speech production slips of the tongue offer an insight into speech processing. Pre-tones and echoes, serialization errors, as Meringer and Mayer recognised, represent the vast majority of slips of the tongue. They do not reveal any hidden point. But with lexical-semantic slips of the tongue the question of mental motivation is admissible. This short paper is a sign of appreciation and gratitude: firstly, a modest birthday gift for Sigmund Freud, secondly homage to Carl Mayer, who influenced generations of neurologists in his 40 years of chairing the Psychiatric-Neurological Clinic in Innsbruck, so that Hans Ganner rightly spoke of a "Carl Mayer School". But lastly, this short study is also-and especially-a late recognition of Rudolf Meringer, the great Austrian linguist. The view an individual has concerning mental processes and the "topology of the psychic apparatus" is decisive as to the power of determination attached to the unconscious.

The Rational Unconscious: Implications for Mental Illness and Psychotherapy.

PubMed

Bowins, Brad

2018-05-15

Rational and reality-congruent unconscious processes facilitate adaptive functioning and have implications for mental illness and psychotherapy. With this knowledge, psychotherapists can more effectively guide interventions to improve mental health.

A Case for Thinking Without Consciousness.

PubMed

Dijksterhuis, Ap; Strick, Madelijn

2016-01-01

People can engage in prolonged thought processes, such as when they are facing an important decision or when they are working on a scientific discovery. Such thought processes can take months or even years. We argue that while people engage in such thinking, they make progress not only when they consciously think but also sometimes when they are consciously thinking about something else-that is, while they think unconsciously. We review the literature on unconscious thought (UT) processes and conclude that there is indeed quite some evidence for UT. Conceptualized as a form of unconscious goal pursuit, UT is likely to be especially fruitful for thought processes that are complex, important, or interesting to the thinker. In addition, we discuss other characteristics of the UT process. We end with proposing Type 3 processes, in addition to Type 1 and Type 2 (or Systems 1 and 2) processes, to accommodate prolonged thought processes in models on thought. © The Author(s) 2015.

Subliminal and Supraliminal Processing of Facial Expression of Emotions: Brain Oscillation in the Left/Right Frontal Area

PubMed Central

Balconi, Michela; Ferrari, Chiara

2012-01-01

The unconscious effects of an emotional stimulus have been highlighted by a vast amount of research, whereover it remains questionable whether it is possible to assign a specific function to cortical brain oscillations in the unconscious perception of facial expressions of emotions. Alpha band variation was monitored within the right- and left-cortical side when subjects consciously (supraliminal stimulation) or unconsciously (subliminal stimulation) processed facial patterns. Twenty subjects looked at six facial expressions of emotions (anger, fear, surprise, disgust, happiness, sadness, and neutral) under two different conditions: supraliminal (200 ms) vs. subliminal (30 ms) stimulation (140 target-mask pairs for each condition). The results showed that conscious/unconscious processing and the significance of the stimulus can modulate the alpha power. Moreover, it was found that there was an increased right frontal activity for negative emotions vs. an increased left response for positive emotion. The significance of facial expressions was adduced to elucidate cortical different responses to emotional types. PMID:24962767

Subliminal and supraliminal processing of facial expression of emotions: brain oscillation in the left/right frontal area.

PubMed

Balconi, Michela; Ferrari, Chiara

2012-03-26

The unconscious effects of an emotional stimulus have been highlighted by a vast amount of research, whereover it remains questionable whether it is possible to assign a specific function to cortical brain oscillations in the unconscious perception of facial expressions of emotions. Alpha band variation was monitored within the right- and left-cortical side when subjects consciously (supraliminal stimulation) or unconsciously (subliminal stimulation) processed facial patterns. Twenty subjects looked at six facial expressions of emotions (anger, fear, surprise, disgust, happiness, sadness, and neutral) under two different conditions: supraliminal (200 ms) vs. subliminal (30 ms) stimulation (140 target-mask pairs for each condition). The results showed that conscious/unconscious processing and the significance of the stimulus can modulate the alpha power. Moreover, it was found that there was an increased right frontal activity for negative emotions vs. an increased left response for positive emotion. The significance of facial expressions was adduced to elucidate cortical different responses to emotional types.

Conscious and Unconscious Intent in the Creative Process: A Letter from Eugene Ionesco.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coleman, Ingrid H.

1981-01-01

Introduces a letter written by Eugene Ionesco in answer to questions on the interpretation of his plays. In his letter Ionesco discusses the creative process as a blend of ideological and emotional motifs, seen, respectively, as the expression of the conscious and the unconscious (or subconscious) mind. (MES)

Seeing the invisible: The scope and limits of unconscious processing in binocular rivalry

PubMed Central

Lin, Zhicheng; He, Sheng

2009-01-01

When an image is presented to one eye and a very different image is presented to the corresponding location of the other eye, they compete for perceptual dominance, such that only one image is visible at a time while the other is suppressed. Called binocular rivalry, this phenomenon and its deviants have been extensively exploited to study the mechanism and neural correlates of consciousness. In this paper, we propose a framework, the unconscious binding hypothesis, to distinguish unconscious and conscious processing. According to this framework, the unconscious mind not only encodes individual features but also temporally binds distributed features to give rise to cortical representation, but unlike conscious binding, such unconscious binding is fragile. Under this framework, we review evidence from psychophysical and neuroimaging studies, which suggests that: (1) for invisible low level features, prolonged exposure to visual pattern and simple translational motion can alter the appearance of subsequent visible features (i.e. adaptation); for invisible high level features, although complex spiral motion cannot produce adaptation, nor can objects/words enhance subsequent processing of related stimuli (i.e. priming), images of objects such as tools can nevertheless activate the dorsal pathway; and (2) although invisible central cues cannot orient attention, invisible erotic pictures in the periphery can nevertheless guide attention, likely through emotional arousal; reciprocally, the processing of invisible information can be modulated by attention at perceptual and neural levels. PMID:18824061

Unconscious learning processes: mental integration of verbal and pictorial instructional materials.

PubMed

Kuldas, Seffetullah; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Hashim, Shahabuddin; Bakar, Zainudin Abu

2013-12-01

This review aims to provide an insight into human learning processes by examining the role of cognitive and emotional unconscious processing in mentally integrating visual and verbal instructional materials. Reviewed literature shows that conscious mental integration does not happen all the time, nor does it necessarily result in optimal learning. Students of all ages and levels of experience cannot always have conscious awareness, control, and the intention to learn or promptly and continually organize perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes of learning. This review suggests considering the role of unconscious learning processes to enhance the understanding of how students form or activate mental associations between verbal and pictorial information. The understanding would assist in presenting students with spatially-integrated verbal and pictorial instructional materials as a way of facilitating mental integration and improving teaching and learning performance.

The conscious mind and its emergent properties; an analysis based on decision theory.

PubMed

Morris, James A

2011-08-01

The process of conscious and unconscious decision making is analyzed using decision theory. An essential part of an optimum decision strategy is the assessment of values and costs associated with correct and incorrect decisions. In the case of unconscious decisions this involves an automatic process akin to computation using numerical values. But for conscious decisions the conscious mind must experience the outcome of the decision as pleasure or pain. It is suggested that the rules of behavior are programmed in our genes but modified by experience of the society in which we are reared. Our unconscious then uses the rules to reward or punish our conscious mind for the decisions it makes. This is relevant to concepts of altruism and religion in society. It is consistent with the observation that we prefer beauty to utility. The decision theory equations also explain the paradox that a single index of happiness can be applied in society. The symptoms of mental illness can be due to appropriate or inappropriate action by the unconscious. The former indicates a psychological conflict between conscious and unconscious decision making. Inappropriate action indicates that a pathological process has switched on genetic networks that should be switched off. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural signature of reward-modulated unconscious inhibitory control.

PubMed

Diao, Liuting; Qi, Senqing; Xu, Mengsi; Li, Zhiai; Ding, Cody; Chen, Antao; Zheng, Yan; Yang, Dong

2016-09-01

Consciously initiated cognitive control is generally determined by motivational incentives (e.g., monetary reward). Recent studies have revealed that human cognitive control processes can nevertheless operate without awareness. However, whether monetary reward can impinge on unconscious cognitive control remains unclear. To clarify this issue, a task consisting of several runs was designed to combine a modified version of the reward-priming paradigm with an unconscious version of the Go/No-Go task. At the beginning of each run, participants were exposed to a high- or low-value coin, followed by the modified Go/No-Go task. Participants could earn the coin only if they responded correctly to each trial of the run. Event-related potential (ERP) results indicated that high-value rewards (vs. low-value rewards) induced a greater centro-parietal P3 component associated with conscious and unconscious inhibitory control. Moreover, the P3 amplitude correlated positively with the magnitude of reaction time slowing reflecting the intensity of activation of unconscious inhibitory control in the brain. These findings suggest that high-value reward may facilitate human higher-order inhibitory processes that are independent of conscious awareness, which provides insights into the brain processes that underpin motivational modulation of cognitive control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Age differences in the effects of conscious and unconscious thought in decision making.

PubMed

Queen, Tara L; Hess, Thomas M

2010-06-01

The roles of unconscious and conscious thought in decision making were investigated to examine both (a) boundary conditions associated with the efficacy of each type of thought and (b) age differences in intuitive versus deliberative thought. Participants were presented with 2 decision tasks, one requiring active deliberation and the other intuitive processing. Young and older adults then engaged in conscious or unconscious thought processing before making a decision. A manipulation check revealed that young adults were more accurate in their representations of the decision material than older adults, which accounted for much of the age-related variation in performance when the full sample was considered. When only accurate participants were considered, decision making was best when there was congruence between the nature of the information and the thought condition. Thus, unconscious thought was more appropriate when participants relied on intuitive rather than deliberative processing to make their decision, whereas the converse was true with conscious thought. Although older adults displayed somewhat less efficient deliberative processing, their ability to process information at the intuitive level was relatively preserved. Additionally, both young and older adults displayed choice-supportive memory. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Deficits of unconscious emotional processing in patients with major depression: An ERP study.

PubMed

Zhang, Dandan; He, Zhenhong; Chen, Yuming; Wei, Zhaoguo

2016-07-15

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with behavioral and neurobiological evidences of negative bias in unconscious emotional processing. However, little is known about the time course of this deficit. The current study aimed to explore the unconscious processing of emotional facial expressions in MDD patients by means of event-related potentials (ERPs). The ERP responses to subliminally presented happy/neutral/sad faces were recorded in 26 medication-free patients and 26 healthy controls in a backward masking task. Three ERP components were compared between patients and controls. Detection accuracy was at chance level for both groups, suggesting that the process was performed in the absence of conscious awareness of the emotional stimuli. Robust emotion×group interactions were observed in P1, N170 and P3. Compared with the neutral faces, 1) the patients showed larger P1 for sad and smaller P1 for happy faces; however, the controls showed a completely inverse P1 pattern; 2) the controls exhibited larger N170 in the happy but not in the sad trials, whereas patients had comparable larger N170 amplitudes in sad and happy trials; 3) although both groups exhibited larger P3 for emotional faces, the patients showed a priority for sad trials while the controls showed a priority for happy trials. Our data suggested that negative processing bias exists on the unconscious level in individuals with MDD. The ERP measures indicated that the unconscious emotional processing in MDD patients has a time course of three-stage deflection. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The four antinomies of the death instinct.

PubMed

Blanco, Ignacio Matte

2005-10-01

Matte Blanco examines four paradoxical positions that arise out of Freud's writings on the death instinct. He notes that death is not a content known to the unconscious. Furthermore, the absence of time and space in the unconscious means that the conditions necessary for any process such as instinct are similarly absent. Matte Blanco demonstrates the way in which the antinomies that he explores can be explained in terms of the logics that obtain in the unconscious, and he suggests that the concept of the death instinct is one of the most profound expressions of the relationship between the modes that underlie conscious and unconscious logic.

The Academic Search: Unconscious Bias and Its Impact on the Recruitment and Evaluation of Faculty Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts, Deirdre Gernell

2017-01-01

In this study, I examined the academic search process and the role that unconscious bias plays in the evaluation and recruitment of faculty candidates. The academic search process and participants' beliefs, values, and attitudes regarding how they evaluated faculty candidates and made decisions regarding shortlist placement were examined. I used a…

Low-level awareness accompanies "unconscious" high-level processing during continuous flash suppression.

PubMed

Gelbard-Sagiv, Hagar; Faivre, Nathan; Mudrik, Liad; Koch, Christof

2016-01-01

The scope and limits of unconscious processing are a matter of ongoing debate. Lately, continuous flash suppression (CFS), a technique for suppressing visual stimuli, has been widely used to demonstrate surprisingly high-level processing of invisible stimuli. Yet, recent studies showed that CFS might actually allow low-level features of the stimulus to escape suppression and be consciously perceived. The influence of such low-level awareness on high-level processing might easily go unnoticed, as studies usually only probe the visibility of the feature of interest, and not that of lower-level features. For instance, face identity is held to be processed unconsciously since subjects who fail to judge the identity of suppressed faces still show identity priming effects. Here we challenge these results, showing that such high-level priming effects are indeed induced by faces whose identity is invisible, but critically, only when a lower-level feature, such as color or location, is visible. No evidence for identity processing was found when subjects had no conscious access to any feature of the suppressed face. These results suggest that high-level processing of an image might be enabled by-or co-occur with-conscious access to some of its low-level features, even when these features are not relevant to the processed dimension. Accordingly, they call for further investigation of lower-level awareness during CFS, and reevaluation of other unconscious high-level processing findings.

When unconscious rewards boost cognitive task performance inefficiently: the role of consciousness in integrating value and attainability information

PubMed Central

Zedelius, Claire M.; Veling, Harm; Aarts, Henk

2012-01-01

Research has shown that high vs. low value rewards improve cognitive task performance independent of whether they are perceived consciously or unconsciously. However, efficient performance in response to high value rewards also depends on whether or not rewards are attainable. This raises the question of whether unconscious reward processing enables people to take into account such attainability information. Building on a theoretical framework according to which conscious reward processing is required to enable higher level cognitive processing, the present research tested the hypothesis that conscious but not unconscious reward processing enables integration of reward value with attainability information. In two behavioral experiments, participants were exposed to mask high and low value coins serving as rewards on a working memory (WM) task. The likelihood for conscious processing was manipulated by presenting the coins relatively briefly (17 ms) or long and clearly visible (300 ms). Crucially, rewards were expected to be attainable or unattainable. Requirements to integrate reward value with attainability information varied across experiments. Results showed that when integration of value and attainability was required (Experiment 1), long reward presentation led to efficient performance, i.e., selectively improved performance for high value attainable rewards. In contrast, in the short presentation condition, performance was increased for high value rewards even when these were unattainable. This difference between the effects of long and short presentation time disappeared when integration of value and attainability information was not required (Experiment 2). Together these findings suggest that unconsciously processed reward information is not integrated with attainability expectancies, causing inefficient effort investment. These findings are discussed in terms of a unique role of consciousness in efficient allocation of effort to cognitive control processes. PMID:22848198

Subliminal Emotional Words Impact Syntactic Processing: Evidence from Performance and Event-Related Brain Potentials.

PubMed

Jiménez-Ortega, Laura; Espuny, Javier; de Tejada, Pilar Herreros; Vargas-Rivero, Carolina; Martín-Loeches, Manuel

2017-01-01

Recent studies demonstrate that syntactic processing can be affected by emotional information and that subliminal emotional information can also affect cognitive processes. In this study, we explore whether unconscious emotional information may also impact syntactic processing. In an Event-Related brain Potential (ERP) study, positive, neutral and negative subliminal adjectives were inserted within neutral sentences, just before the presentation of the supraliminal adjective. They could either be correct (50%) or contain a morphosyntactic violation (number or gender disagreements). Larger error rates were observed for incorrect sentences than for correct ones, in contrast to most studies using supraliminal information. Strikingly, emotional adjectives affected the conscious syntactic processing of sentences containing morphosyntactic anomalies. The neutral condition elicited left anterior negativity (LAN) followed by a P600 component. However, a lack of anterior negativity and an early P600 onset for the negative condition were found, probably as a result of the negative subliminal correct adjective capturing early syntactic resources. Positive masked adjectives in turn prompted an N400 component in response to morphosyntactic violations, probably reflecting the induction of a heuristic processing mode involving access to lexico-semantic information to solve agreement anomalies. Our results add to recent evidence on the impact of emotional information on syntactic processing, while showing that this can occur even when the reader is unaware of the emotional stimuli.

Subliminal Emotional Words Impact Syntactic Processing: Evidence from Performance and Event-Related Brain Potentials

PubMed Central

Jiménez-Ortega, Laura; Espuny, Javier; de Tejada, Pilar Herreros; Vargas-Rivero, Carolina; Martín-Loeches, Manuel

2017-01-01

Recent studies demonstrate that syntactic processing can be affected by emotional information and that subliminal emotional information can also affect cognitive processes. In this study, we explore whether unconscious emotional information may also impact syntactic processing. In an Event-Related brain Potential (ERP) study, positive, neutral and negative subliminal adjectives were inserted within neutral sentences, just before the presentation of the supraliminal adjective. They could either be correct (50%) or contain a morphosyntactic violation (number or gender disagreements). Larger error rates were observed for incorrect sentences than for correct ones, in contrast to most studies using supraliminal information. Strikingly, emotional adjectives affected the conscious syntactic processing of sentences containing morphosyntactic anomalies. The neutral condition elicited left anterior negativity (LAN) followed by a P600 component. However, a lack of anterior negativity and an early P600 onset for the negative condition were found, probably as a result of the negative subliminal correct adjective capturing early syntactic resources. Positive masked adjectives in turn prompted an N400 component in response to morphosyntactic violations, probably reflecting the induction of a heuristic processing mode involving access to lexico-semantic information to solve agreement anomalies. Our results add to recent evidence on the impact of emotional information on syntactic processing, while showing that this can occur even when the reader is unaware of the emotional stimuli. PMID:28487640

Unconscious Processing of Facial Emotional Valence Relation: Behavioral Evidence of Integration between Subliminally Perceived Stimuli.

PubMed

Liu, Chengzhen; Sun, Zhiyi; Jou, Jerwen; Cui, Qian; Zhao, Guang; Qiu, Jiang; Tu, Shen

2016-01-01

Although a few studies have investigated the integration between some types of unconscious stimuli, no research has yet explored the integration between unconscious emotional stimuli. This study was designed to provide behavioral evidence for the integration between unconsciously perceived emotional faces (same or different valence relation) using a modified priming paradigm. In two experiments, participants were asked to decide whether two faces in the target, which followed two subliminally presented faces of same or different emotional expressions, were of the same or different emotional valence. The interstimulus interval (ISI) between the prime and the target was manipulated (0, 53, 163 ms). In Experiment 1, prime visibility was assessed post-experiment. In Experiment 2, it was assessed on each trial. Interestingly, in both experiments, unconsciously processed valence relation of the two faces in the prime generated a negative priming effect in the response to the supraliminally presented target, independent of the length of ISI. Further analyses suggested that the negative priming was probably caused by a motor response incongruent relation between the subliminally perceived prime and the supraliminally perceived target. The visual feature incongruent relation across the prime and target was not found to play a role in the negative priming. Because the negative priming was found at short ISI, an attention mechanism as well as a motor inhibition mechanism were proposed in the generation of the negative priming effect. Overall, this study indicated that the subliminal valence relation was processed, and that integration between different unconsciously perceived stimuli could occur.

Unconscious Processing of Facial Emotional Valence Relation: Behavioral Evidence of Integration between Subliminally Perceived Stimuli

PubMed Central

Jou, Jerwen; Cui, Qian; Zhao, Guang; Qiu, Jiang; Tu, Shen

2016-01-01

Although a few studies have investigated the integration between some types of unconscious stimuli, no research has yet explored the integration between unconscious emotional stimuli. This study was designed to provide behavioral evidence for the integration between unconsciously perceived emotional faces (same or different valence relation) using a modified priming paradigm. In two experiments, participants were asked to decide whether two faces in the target, which followed two subliminally presented faces of same or different emotional expressions, were of the same or different emotional valence. The interstimulus interval (ISI) between the prime and the target was manipulated (0, 53, 163 ms). In Experiment 1, prime visibility was assessed post-experiment. In Experiment 2, it was assessed on each trial. Interestingly, in both experiments, unconsciously processed valence relation of the two faces in the prime generated a negative priming effect in the response to the supraliminally presented target, independent of the length of ISI. Further analyses suggested that the negative priming was probably caused by a motor response incongruent relation between the subliminally perceived prime and the supraliminally perceived target. The visual feature incongruent relation across the prime and target was not found to play a role in the negative priming. Because the negative priming was found at short ISI, an attention mechanism as well as a motor inhibition mechanism were proposed in the generation of the negative priming effect. Overall, this study indicated that the subliminal valence relation was processed, and that integration between different unconsciously perceived stimuli could occur. PMID:27622600

Some comments on the Freudian unconscious.

PubMed

Modell, Arnold H

2013-08-01

Freud's insight that mental processes are fundamentally unconscious is now an unquestioned assumption of neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Psychoanalysts are now faced with the question, What differentiated the psychoanalytic unconscious from that of other disciplines? Behind this question lies a more profound issue, the mind-body or mind-brain problem. It appears to be an insoluble paradox. Freud's concept of repression as a defense "mechanism" illustrates this paradox. To describe repression as a "mechanism" is to claim that it is analogous to a physiological process. Yet we know that repression is highly individualistic and subject to cultural values. In examining the Freudian concept of the primary process, the Noble prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman has shown that the primary process is not wish fulfilling, as Freud claimed, but adaptive. The waking primary process is in the service of the reality principle. The growth of contemporary neuroscience has created challenging problems for psychoanalysis that did not exist in Freud's lifetime.

Unconscious gender bias in fame judgments?

PubMed

Buchner, A; Wippich, W

1996-01-01

In two experiments the conditions of, and the processes leading to, gender biases in fame judgments were investigated. In Experiment 1, the gender bias was not reduced in a condition that alerted participants to the gender of the names. In Experiment 2, participants' sex-role orientation, but not their gender, was related to the gender bias. The process dissociation procedure was used in both experiments in an attempt to separate conscious and unconscious memory processes contributing to the gender bias. Using L.L. Jacoby's 1991) original measurement model there appeared to be evidence for unconscious influences on the gender bias in fame judgments. Unfortunately, this evidence disappeared when a model was used that takes guessing and, hence, response biases into account, which confirms that measurement models that ignore response biases in the process dissociation procedure may lead to erroneous conclusions.

On knowing the unconscious: lessons from the epistemology of geometry and space.

PubMed

Brakel, L A

1994-02-01

Concepts involving unconscious processes and contents are central to any understanding of psychoanalysis. Indeed, the dynamic unconscious is familiar as a necessary assumption of the psychoanalytic method. Using the manner of knowing the geometry of space, including non-ordinary sized space, this paper attempts to demonstrate by analogy the possibility of knowing (and knowing the nature of) unconscious mentation-that of which by definition we cannot be aware; and yet that which constitutes a basic assumption of psychoanalysis. As an assumption of the psychoanalytic method, no amount of data from within the psychoanalytic method can ever provide evidence for the existence of the unconscious, nor for knowing its nature; hence the need for this sort of illustration by analogy. Along the way, three claims are made: (1) Freudian 'secondary process' operating during everyday adult, normal, logical thought can be considered a modernised version of the Kantian categories. (2) Use of models facilitates a generation of outside-the-Kantian-categories possibilities, and also provides a conserving function, as outside-the-categories possibilities can be assimilated. (3) Transformations are different from translations; knowledge of transformations can provide non-trivial knowledge about various substrates, otherwise difficult to know.

Quantum information, oscillations and the psyche

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, F.; Carminati, F.; Galli Carminati, G.

2010-05-01

In this paper, taking the theory of quantum information as a model, we consider the human unconscious, pre-consciousness and consciousness as sets of quantum bits (qubits). We view how there can be communication between these various qubit sets. In doing this we are inspired by the theory of nuclear magnetic resonance. In this way we build a model of handling a mental qubit with the help of pulses of a mental field. Starting with an elementary interaction between two qubits we build two-qubit quantum logic gates that allow information to be transferred from one qubit to the other. In this manner we build a quantum process that permits consciousness to "read" the unconscious and vice versa. The elementary interaction, e.g. between a pre-consciousness qubit and a consciousness one, allows us to predict the time evolution of the pre-consciousness + consciousness system in which pre-consciousness and consciousness are quantum entangled. This time evolution exhibits Rabi oscillations that we name mental Rabi oscillations. This time evolution shows how for example the unconscious can influence consciousness. In a process like mourning the influence of the unconscious on consciousness, as the influence of consciousness on the unconscious, are in agreement with what is observed in psychiatry.

Brain. Conscious and Unconscious Mechanisms of Cognition, Emotions, and Language

PubMed Central

Perlovsky, Leonid; Ilin, Roman

2012-01-01

Conscious and unconscious brain mechanisms, including cognition, emotions and language are considered in this review. The fundamental mechanisms of cognition include interactions between bottom-up and top-down signals. The modeling of these interactions since the 1960s is briefly reviewed, analyzing the ubiquitous difficulty: incomputable combinatorial complexity (CC). Fundamental reasons for CC are related to the Gödel’s difficulties of logic, a most fundamental mathematical result of the 20th century. Many scientists still “believed” in logic because, as the review discusses, logic is related to consciousness; non-logical processes in the brain are unconscious. CC difficulty is overcome in the brain by processes “from vague-unconscious to crisp-conscious” (representations, plans, models, concepts). These processes are modeled by dynamic logic, evolving from vague and unconscious representations toward crisp and conscious thoughts. We discuss experimental proofs and relate dynamic logic to simulators of the perceptual symbol system. “From vague to crisp” explains interactions between cognition and language. Language is mostly conscious, whereas cognition is only rarely so; this clarifies much about the mind that might seem mysterious. All of the above involve emotions of a special kind, aesthetic emotions related to knowledge and to cognitive dissonances. Cognition-language-emotional mechanisms operate throughout the hierarchy of the mind and create all higher mental abilities. The review discusses cognitive functions of the beautiful, sublime, music. PMID:24961270

Introduction to Unconscious Bias

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmelz, Joan T.

2010-05-01

We all have biases, and we are (for the most part) unaware of them. In general, men and women BOTH unconsciously devalue the contributions of women. This can have a detrimental effect on grant proposals, job applications, and performance reviews. Sociology is way ahead of astronomy in these studies. When evaluating identical application packages, male and female University psychology professors preferred 2:1 to hire "Brian” over "Karen” as an assistant professor. When evaluating a more experienced record (at the point of promotion to tenure), reservations were expressed four times more often when the name was female. This unconscious bias has a repeated negative effect on Karen's career. This talk will introduce the concept of unconscious bias and also give recommendations on how to address it using an example for a faculty search committee. The process of eliminating unconscious bias begins with awareness, then moves to policy and practice, and ends with accountability.

Playing Chess Unconsciously

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiesel, Andrea; Kunde, Wilfried; Pohl, Carsten; Berner, Michael P.; Hoffmann, Joachim

2009-01-01

Expertise in a certain stimulus domain enhances perceptual capabilities. In the present article, the authors investigate whether expertise improves perceptual processing to an extent that allows complex visual stimuli to bias behavior unconsciously. Expert chess players judged whether a target chess configuration entailed a checking configuration.…

Replication Unreliability in Psychology: Elusive Phenomena or “Elusive” Statistical Power?

PubMed Central

Tressoldi, Patrizio E.

2012-01-01

The focus of this paper is to analyze whether the unreliability of results related to certain controversial psychological phenomena may be a consequence of their low statistical power. Applying the Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing (NHST), still the widest used statistical approach, unreliability derives from the failure to refute the null hypothesis, in particular when exact or quasi-exact replications of experiments are carried out. Taking as example the results of meta-analyses related to four different controversial phenomena, subliminal semantic priming, incubation effect for problem solving, unconscious thought theory, and non-local perception, it was found that, except for semantic priming on categorization, the statistical power to detect the expected effect size (ES) of the typical study, is low or very low. The low power in most studies undermines the use of NHST to study phenomena with moderate or low ESs. We conclude by providing some suggestions on how to increase the statistical power or use different statistical approaches to help discriminate whether the results obtained may or may not be used to support or to refute the reality of a phenomenon with small ES. PMID:22783215

Assessment of Unconscious Decision Aids Applied to Complex Patient-Centered Medical Decisions

PubMed Central

Manigault, Andrew Wilhelm; Whillock, Summer Rain

2015-01-01

Background To improve patient health, recent research urges for medical decision aids that are designed to enhance the effectiveness of specific medically related decisions. Many such decisions involve complex information, and decision aids that independently use deliberative (analytical and slower) or intuitive (more affective and automatic) cognitive processes for such decisions result in suboptimal decisions. Unconscious thought can arguably use both intuitive and deliberative (slow and analytic) processes, and this combination may further benefit complex patient (or practitioner) decisions as medical decision aids. Indeed, mounting research demonstrates that individuals render better decisions generally if they are distracted from thinking consciously about complex information after it is presented (but can think unconsciously), relative to thinking about that information consciously or not at all. Objective The current research tested whether the benefits of unconscious thought processes can be replicated using an Internet platform for a patient medical decision involving complex information. This research also explored the possibility that judgments reported after a period of unconscious thought are actually the result of a short period of conscious deliberation occurring during the decision report phase. Methods A total of 173 participants in a Web-based experiment received information about four medical treatments, the best (worst) associated with mostly positive (negative) side-effects/attributes and the others with equal positive-negative ratios. Next, participants were either distracted for 3 minutes (unconscious thought), instructed to think about the information for 3 minutes (conscious thought), or moved directly to the decision task (immediate decision). Finally, participants reported their choice of, and attitudes toward, the treatments while experiencing high, low, or no cognitive load, which varied their ability to think consciously while reporting judgments. Cognitive load was manipulated by having participants memorize semi-random (high), line structured (low), or no dot patterns and recall these intermittently with their decision reports. Overall then, participants were randomly assigned to the conditions of a 3 (thought condition) by 3 (cognitive-load level) between-subjects design. Results A logistic regression analysis indicated that the odds of participants choosing the best treatment were 2.25 times higher in the unconscious-thought condition compared to the immediate-decision condition (b=.81, Wald=4.32, P=.04, 95% CI 1.048-4.836), and 2.39 times greater compared to the conscious-thought condition (b=.87, Wald=4.87, P=.027, 95% CI 1.103-5.186). No difference was observed between the conscious-thought condition compared to the immediate-decision condition, and cognitive load manipulations did not affect choices or alter the above finding. Conclusions This research demonstrates a plausible benefit of unconscious thinking as a decision aid for complex medical decisions, and represents the first use of unconscious thought processes as a patient-centered medical decision aid. Further, the quality of decisions reached unconsciously does not appear to be affected by the amount of cognitive load participants experienced. PMID:25677337

Psycho-logic: some thoughts and after-thoughts.

PubMed

Smedslund, J

2012-08-01

The main features of the system of psycho-logic and its historical origins, especially in the writings of Heider and Piaget, are briefly reviewed. An updated version of the axioms of psycho-logic, and a list of the semantic primitives of Wierzbicka are presented. Some foundational questions are discussed, including the genetically determined limitations of human knowledge, the constructive, moral, and political nature of the approach, the role of fortuitous events, the ultimate limitations of psychological knowledge (the "balloon" to be inflated from the inside), the role of the subjective unconscious, and the implications of the approach for practice. © 2012 The Author. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2012 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Anger in brain and body: the neural and physiological perturbation of decision-making by emotion

PubMed Central

Zorab, Emma; Navaratnam, Nakulan; Engels, Miriam; Mallorquí-Bagué, Núria; Minati, Ludovico; Dowell, Nicholas G.; Brosschot, Jos F.; Thayer, Julian F.; Critchley, Hugo D.

2016-01-01

Emotion and cognition are dynamically coupled to bodily arousal: the induction of anger, even unconsciously, can reprioritise neural and physiological resources toward action states that bias cognitive processes. Here we examine behavioural, neural and bodily effects of covert anger processing and its influence on cognition, indexed by lexical decision-making. While recording beat-to-beat blood pressure, the words ANGER or RELAX were presented subliminally just prior to rapid word/non-word reaction-time judgements of letter-strings. Subliminal ANGER primes delayed the time taken to reach rapid lexical decisions, relative to RELAX primes. However, individuals with high trait anger were speeded up by subliminal anger primes. ANGER primes increased systolic blood pressure and the magnitude of this increase predicted reaction time prolongation. Within the brain, ANGER trials evoked an enhancement of activity within dorsal pons and an attenuation of activity within visual occipitotemporal and attentional parietal cortices. Activity within periaqueductal grey matter, occipital and parietal regions increased linearly with evoked blood pressure changes, indicating neural substrates through which covert anger impairs semantic decisions, putatively through its expression as visceral arousal. The behavioural and physiological impact of anger states compromises the efficiency of cognitive processing through action-ready changes in autonomic response that skew regional neural activity. PMID:26253525

Voices from the Unconscious

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alper, Gerald

2005-01-01

The author, a Manhattan-based psychotherapist, contrasts the fascinating but profound differences between the autobiographical narratives of young college students and the free-associative unconscious voices of patients engaged in the process of psychotherapy. The author begins by recounting the immense impact of his own divorce upon his…

The speed of metacognition: taking time to get to know one's structural knowledge.

PubMed

Mealor, Andy D; Dienes, Zoltan

2013-03-01

The time course of different metacognitive experiences of knowledge was investigated using artificial grammar learning. Experiment 1 revealed that when participants are aware of the basis of their judgments (conscious structural knowledge) decisions are made most rapidly, followed by decisions made with conscious judgment but without conscious knowledge of underlying structure (unconscious structural knowledge), and guess responses (unconscious judgment knowledge) were made most slowly, even when controlling for differences in confidence and accuracy. In experiment 2, short response deadlines decreased the accuracy of unconscious but not conscious structural knowledge. Conversely, the deadline decreased the proportion of conscious structural knowledge in favour of guessing. Unconscious structural knowledge can be applied rapidly but becomes more reliable with additional metacognitive processing time whereas conscious structural knowledge is an all-or-nothing response that cannot always be applied rapidly. These dissociations corroborate quite separate theories of recognition (dual-process) and metacognition (higher order thought and cross-order integration). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interplay between Narrative and Bodily Self in Access to Consciousness: No Difference between Self- and Non-self Attributes.

PubMed

Noel, Jean-Paul; Blanke, Olaf; Serino, Andrea; Salomon, Roy

2017-01-01

The construct of the "self" is conceived as being fundamental in promoting survival. As such, extensive studies have documented preferential processing of self-relevant stimuli. For example, attributes that relate to the self are better encoded and retrieved, and are more readily consciously perceived. The preferential processing of self-relevant information, however, appears to be especially true for physical (e.g., faces), as opposed to psychological (e.g., traits), conceptions of the self. Here, we test whether semantic attributes that participants judge as self-relevant are further processed unconsciously than attributes that were not judged as self-relevant. In Experiment 1, a continuous flash suppression paradigm was employed with "self" and "non-self" attribute words being presented subliminally, and we asked participants to categorize unseen words as either self-related or not. In a second experiment, we attempted to boost putative preferential self-processing by relation to its physical conception, that is, one's own body. To this aim, we repeated Experiment 1 while administrating acoustic stimuli either close or far from the body, i.e., within or outside peripersonal space. Results of both Experiment 1 and 2 demonstrate no difference in breaking suppression for self and non-self words. Additionally, we found that while participants were able to process the physical location of the unseen words (above or below fixation) they were not able to categorize these as self-relevant or not. Finally, results showed that sounds presented in the extra-personal space elicited a more stringent response criterion for "self" in the process of categorizing unseen visual stimuli. This shift in criterion as a consequence of sound location was restricted to the self, as no such effect was observed in the categorization of attributes occurring above or below fixation. Overall, our findings seem to indicate that subliminally presented stimuli are not semantically processed, at least inasmuch as to be categorized as self-relevant or not. However, we do demonstrate that the distance at which acoustic stimuli are presented may alter the balance between self- and non-self biases.

Interplay between Narrative and Bodily Self in Access to Consciousness: No Difference between Self- and Non-self Attributes

PubMed Central

Noel, Jean-Paul; Blanke, Olaf; Serino, Andrea; Salomon, Roy

2017-01-01

The construct of the “self” is conceived as being fundamental in promoting survival. As such, extensive studies have documented preferential processing of self-relevant stimuli. For example, attributes that relate to the self are better encoded and retrieved, and are more readily consciously perceived. The preferential processing of self-relevant information, however, appears to be especially true for physical (e.g., faces), as opposed to psychological (e.g., traits), conceptions of the self. Here, we test whether semantic attributes that participants judge as self-relevant are further processed unconsciously than attributes that were not judged as self-relevant. In Experiment 1, a continuous flash suppression paradigm was employed with “self” and “non-self” attribute words being presented subliminally, and we asked participants to categorize unseen words as either self-related or not. In a second experiment, we attempted to boost putative preferential self-processing by relation to its physical conception, that is, one’s own body. To this aim, we repeated Experiment 1 while administrating acoustic stimuli either close or far from the body, i.e., within or outside peripersonal space. Results of both Experiment 1 and 2 demonstrate no difference in breaking suppression for self and non-self words. Additionally, we found that while participants were able to process the physical location of the unseen words (above or below fixation) they were not able to categorize these as self-relevant or not. Finally, results showed that sounds presented in the extra-personal space elicited a more stringent response criterion for “self” in the process of categorizing unseen visual stimuli. This shift in criterion as a consequence of sound location was restricted to the self, as no such effect was observed in the categorization of attributes occurring above or below fixation. Overall, our findings seem to indicate that subliminally presented stimuli are not semantically processed, at least inasmuch as to be categorized as self-relevant or not. However, we do demonstrate that the distance at which acoustic stimuli are presented may alter the balance between self- and non-self biases. PMID:28197110

Pupillometry reveals reduced unconscious emotional reactivity in autism.

PubMed

Nuske, Heather J; Vivanti, Giacomo; Hudry, Kristelle; Dissanayake, Cheryl

2014-09-01

Recent theoretical conceptualisations have suggested that emotion processing impairments in autism stem from disruption to the sub-cortical, rapid emotion-processing system. We argue that a clear way to ascertain whether this system is affected in autism is by measuring unconscious emotional reactivity. Using backwards masking, we presented fearful expressions non-consciously (subliminally) as well as consciously (supraliminally), and measured pupillary responses as an index of emotional reactivity in 19 children with autism and 19 typically developing children, aged 2-5 years. The pupillary responses of the children with autism revealed reduced unconscious emotional reactivity, with no group differences on consciously presented emotion. Together, these results indicate a hyporesponsiveness to non-consciously presented emotion suggesting a fundamental difference in emotion processing in autism, which requires consciousness and more time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Semantic Processing in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An ERP Study.

PubMed

Coderre, Emily L; Chernenok, Mariya; Gordon, Barry; Ledoux, Kerry

2017-03-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience difficulties with language, particularly higher-level functions like semantic integration. Yet some studies indicate that semantic processing of non-linguistic stimuli is not impaired, suggesting a language-specific deficit in semantic processing. Using a semantic priming task, we compared event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to lexico-semantic processing (written words) and visuo-semantic processing (pictures) in adults with ASD and adults with typical development (TD). The ASD group showed successful lexico-semantic and visuo-semantic processing, indicated by similar N400 effects between groups for word and picture stimuli. However, differences in N400 latency and topography in word conditions suggested different lexico-semantic processing mechanisms: an expectancy-based strategy for the TD group but a controlled post-lexical integration strategy for the ASD group.

The Selfish Goal: autonomously operating motivational structures as the proximate cause of human judgment and behavior.

PubMed

Huang, Julie Y; Bargh, John A

2014-04-01

We propose the Selfish Goal model, which holds that a person's behavior is driven by psychological processes called goals that guide his or her behavior, at times in contradictory directions. Goals can operate both consciously and unconsciously, and when activated they can trigger downstream effects on a person's information processing and behavioral possibilities that promote only the attainment of goal end-states (and not necessarily the overall interests of the individual). Hence, goals influence a person as if the goals themselves were selfish and interested only in their own completion. We argue that there is an evolutionary basis to believe that conscious goals evolved from unconscious and selfish forms of pursuit. This theoretical framework predicts the existence of unconscious goal processes capable of guiding behavior in the absence of conscious awareness and control (the automaticity principle), the ability of the most motivating or active goal to constrain a person's information processing and behavior toward successful completion of that goal (the reconfiguration principle), structural similarities between conscious and unconscious goal pursuit (the similarity principle), and goal influences that produce apparent inconsistencies or counterintuitive behaviors in a person's behavior extended over time (the inconsistency principle). Thus, we argue that a person's behaviors are indirectly selected at the goal level but expressed (and comprehended) at the individual level.

Social exclusion modulates priorities of attention allocation in cognitive control

PubMed Central

Xu, Mengsi; Li, Zhiai; Diao, Liuting; Zhang, Lijie; Yuan, Jiajin; Ding, Cody; Yang, Dong

2016-01-01

Many studies have investigated how exclusion affects cognitive control and have reported inconsistent results. However, these studies usually treated cognitive control as a unitary concept, whereas it actually involved two main sub-processes: conflict detection and response implementation. Furthermore, existing studies have focused primarily on exclusion’s effects on conscious cognitive control, while recent studies have shown the existence of unconscious cognitive control. Therefore, the present study investigated whether and how exclusion affects the sub-processes underlying conscious and unconscious cognitive control differently. The Cyberball game was used to manipulate social exclusion and participants subsequently performed a masked Go/No-Go task during which event-related potentials were measured. For conscious cognitive control, excluded participants showed a larger N2 but smaller P3 effects than included participants, suggesting that excluded people invest more attention in conscious conflict detection, but less in conscious inhibition of impulsive responses. However, for unconscious cognitive control, excluded participants showed a smaller N2 but larger P3 effects than included participants, suggesting that excluded people invest less attention in unconscious conflict detection, but more in unconscious inhibition of impulsive responses. Together, these results suggest that exclusion causes people to rebalance attention allocation priorities for cognitive control according to a more flexible and adaptive strategy. PMID:27511746

Unconscious analyses of visual scenes based on feature conjunctions.

PubMed

Tachibana, Ryosuke; Noguchi, Yasuki

2015-06-01

To efficiently process a cluttered scene, the visual system analyzes statistical properties or regularities of visual elements embedded in the scene. It is controversial, however, whether those scene analyses could also work for stimuli unconsciously perceived. Here we show that our brain performs the unconscious scene analyses not only using a single featural cue (e.g., orientation) but also based on conjunctions of multiple visual features (e.g., combinations of color and orientation information). Subjects foveally viewed a stimulus array (duration: 50 ms) where 4 types of bars (red-horizontal, red-vertical, green-horizontal, and green-vertical) were intermixed. Although a conscious perception of those bars was inhibited by a subsequent mask stimulus, the brain correctly analyzed the information about color, orientation, and color-orientation conjunctions of those invisible bars. The information of those features was then used for the unconscious configuration analysis (statistical processing) of the central bars, which induced a perceptual bias and illusory feature binding in visible stimuli at peripheral locations. While statistical analyses and feature binding are normally 2 key functions of the visual system to construct coherent percepts of visual scenes, our results show that a high-level analysis combining those 2 functions is correctly performed by unconscious computations in the brain. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Social exclusion modulates priorities of attention allocation in cognitive control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Mengsi; Li, Zhiai; Diao, Liuting; Zhang, Lijie; Yuan, Jiajin; Ding, Cody; Yang, Dong

2016-08-01

Many studies have investigated how exclusion affects cognitive control and have reported inconsistent results. However, these studies usually treated cognitive control as a unitary concept, whereas it actually involved two main sub-processes: conflict detection and response implementation. Furthermore, existing studies have focused primarily on exclusion’s effects on conscious cognitive control, while recent studies have shown the existence of unconscious cognitive control. Therefore, the present study investigated whether and how exclusion affects the sub-processes underlying conscious and unconscious cognitive control differently. The Cyberball game was used to manipulate social exclusion and participants subsequently performed a masked Go/No-Go task during which event-related potentials were measured. For conscious cognitive control, excluded participants showed a larger N2 but smaller P3 effects than included participants, suggesting that excluded people invest more attention in conscious conflict detection, but less in conscious inhibition of impulsive responses. However, for unconscious cognitive control, excluded participants showed a smaller N2 but larger P3 effects than included participants, suggesting that excluded people invest less attention in unconscious conflict detection, but more in unconscious inhibition of impulsive responses. Together, these results suggest that exclusion causes people to rebalance attention allocation priorities for cognitive control according to a more flexible and adaptive strategy.

Social exclusion modulates priorities of attention allocation in cognitive control.

PubMed

Xu, Mengsi; Li, Zhiai; Diao, Liuting; Zhang, Lijie; Yuan, Jiajin; Ding, Cody; Yang, Dong

2016-08-11

Many studies have investigated how exclusion affects cognitive control and have reported inconsistent results. However, these studies usually treated cognitive control as a unitary concept, whereas it actually involved two main sub-processes: conflict detection and response implementation. Furthermore, existing studies have focused primarily on exclusion's effects on conscious cognitive control, while recent studies have shown the existence of unconscious cognitive control. Therefore, the present study investigated whether and how exclusion affects the sub-processes underlying conscious and unconscious cognitive control differently. The Cyberball game was used to manipulate social exclusion and participants subsequently performed a masked Go/No-Go task during which event-related potentials were measured. For conscious cognitive control, excluded participants showed a larger N2 but smaller P3 effects than included participants, suggesting that excluded people invest more attention in conscious conflict detection, but less in conscious inhibition of impulsive responses. However, for unconscious cognitive control, excluded participants showed a smaller N2 but larger P3 effects than included participants, suggesting that excluded people invest less attention in unconscious conflict detection, but more in unconscious inhibition of impulsive responses. Together, these results suggest that exclusion causes people to rebalance attention allocation priorities for cognitive control according to a more flexible and adaptive strategy.

Lexical-semantic processing in the semantic priming paradigm in aphasic patients.

PubMed

Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli de; Holderbaum, Candice Steffen; Parente, Maria Alice Mattos Pimenta; Mansur, Letícia Lessa; Ansaldo, Ana Inès

2012-09-01

There is evidence that the explicit lexical-semantic processing deficits which characterize aphasia may be observed in the absence of implicit semantic impairment. The aim of this article was to critically review the international literature on lexical-semantic processing in aphasia, as tested through the semantic priming paradigm. Specifically, this review focused on aphasia and lexical-semantic processing, the methodological strengths and weaknesses of the semantic paradigms used, and recent evidence from neuroimaging studies on lexical-semantic processing. Furthermore, evidence on dissociations between implicit and explicit lexical-semantic processing reported in the literature will be discussed and interpreted by referring to functional neuroimaging evidence from healthy populations. There is evidence that semantic priming effects can be found both in fluent and in non-fluent aphasias, and that these effects are related to an extensive network which includes the temporal lobe, the pre-frontal cortex, the left frontal gyrus, the left temporal gyrus and the cingulated cortex.

Dissociable brain mechanisms underlying the conscious and unconscious control of behavior.

PubMed

van Gaal, Simon; Lamme, Victor A F; Fahrenfort, Johannes J; Ridderinkhof, K Richard

2011-01-01

Cognitive control allows humans to overrule and inhibit habitual responses to optimize performance in challenging situations. Contradicting traditional views, recent studies suggest that cognitive control processes can be initiated unconsciously. To further capture the relation between consciousness and cognitive control, we studied the dynamics of inhibitory control processes when triggered consciously versus unconsciously in a modified version of the stop task. Attempts to inhibit an imminent response were often successful after unmasked (visible) stop signals. Masked (invisible) stop signals rarely succeeded in instigating overt inhibition but did trigger slowing down of response times. Masked stop signals elicited a sequence of distinct ERP components that were also observed on unmasked stop signals. The N2 component correlated with the efficiency of inhibitory control when elicited by unmasked stop signals and with the magnitude of slowdown when elicited by masked stop signals. Thus, the N2 likely reflects the initiation of inhibitory control, irrespective of conscious awareness. The P3 component was much reduced in amplitude and duration on masked versus unmasked stop trials. These patterns of differences and similarities between conscious and unconscious cognitive control processes are discussed in a framework that differentiates between feedforward and feedback connections in yielding conscious experience.

Collaborating with the unconscious other. The analysand's capacity for creative thinking.

PubMed

Rather, L

2001-06-01

The analysand's capacity for making use of psychoanalytic treatment has been a subject of importance since the beginning of psychoanalysis. The author addresses an aspect of the difficulty encountered by analysands in achieving a psychic state that allows the creative use of free association, dreams, parapraxes and other spontaneous phenomena occurring during the course of treatment. He suggests that a very specific state of mind is essential to both the psychoanalytic process and the creative process. Using theoretical concepts derived from Freud, Klein and Bion, he develops the idea of an internal object relationship, 'the collaboration with the unconscious other', which forms the basis for both creative thinking and the psychoanalytic function of the personality. Creative thinking is distinguished from artistic endeavour and discussed as a universal potential, on which growth in psychoanalysis depends. The term 'unconscious other' is meant to signify the subjective experience of a foreign presence within oneself from which both spontaneous creative inspiration and involuntary psychic phenomena are felt to emanate. The author presents clinical material to suggest that paranoid-schizoid and depressive anxieties form obstacles to collaborating with the unconscious other, and must be worked through in order to achieve an analytic process.

Anchoring in Numeric Judgments of Visual Stimuli

PubMed Central

Langeborg, Linda; Eriksson, Mårten

2016-01-01

This article investigates effects of anchoring in age estimation and estimation of quantities, two tasks which to different extents are based on visual stimuli. The results are compared to anchoring in answers to classic general knowledge questions that rely on semantic knowledge. Cognitive load was manipulated to explore possible differences between domains. Effects of source credibility, manipulated by differing instructions regarding the selection of anchor values (no information regarding anchor selection, information that the anchors are randomly generated or information that the anchors are answers from an expert) on anchoring were also investigated. Effects of anchoring were large for all types of judgments but were not affected by cognitive load or by source credibility in either one of the researched domains. A main effect of cognitive load on quantity estimations and main effects of source credibility in the two visually based domains indicate that the manipulations were efficient. Implications for theoretical explanations of anchoring are discussed. In particular, because anchoring did not interact with cognitive load, the results imply that the process behind anchoring in visual tasks is predominantly automatic and unconscious. PMID:26941684

The effects of divided attention on implicit and explicit memory performance.

PubMed

Schmitter-Edgecombe, M

1996-03-01

This study explored the nature of the relationship between attention available at learning and subsequent implicit and explicit memory performance. One hundred neurologically normal subjects rated their liking of target words on a five-point scale. Half of the subjects completed the word-rating task in a full attention condition and the other half performed the task in a divided attention condition. Following administration of the word-rating task, all subjects completed five memory tests, three implicit (category association, tachistoscopic identification, and perceptual clarification) and two explicit (semantic-cued recall and graphemic-cued recall), each bearing on a different subset of the list of previously presented target words. The results revealed that subjects in the divided attention condition performed significantly more poorly than subjects in the full attention condition on the explicit memory measures. In contrast, there were no significant group differences in performance on the implicit memory measures. These findings suggest that the attention to an episode that is necessary to produce later explicit memory may differ from that necessary to produce unconscious influences. The relationship between implicit memory, neurologic injury and automatic processes is discussed.

Cross Cultural Differences in Unconscious Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiyokawa, Sachiko; Dienes, Zoltan; Tanaka, Daisuke; Yamada, Ayumi; Crowe, Louise

2012-01-01

Previous studies have indicated cross cultural differences in conscious processes, such that Asians have a global preference and Westerners a more analytical one. We investigated whether these biases also apply to unconscious knowledge. In Experiment 1, Japanese and UK participants memorized strings of large (global) letters made out of small…

Motor expertise modulates the unconscious processing of human body postures.

PubMed

Güldenpenning, Iris; Koester, Dirk; Kunde, Wilfried; Weigelt, Matthias; Schack, Thomas

2011-09-01

Little is known about the cognitive background of unconscious visuomotor control of complex sports movements. Therefore, we investigated the extent to which novices and skilled high-jump athletes are able to identify visually presented body postures of the high jump unconsciously. We also asked whether or not the manner of processing differs (qualitatively or quantitatively) between these groups as a function of their motor expertise. A priming experiment with not consciously perceivable stimuli was designed to determine whether subliminal priming of movement phases (same vs. different movement phases) or temporal order (i.e. natural vs. reversed movement order) affects target processing. Participants had to decide which phase of the high jump (approach vs. flight phase) a target photograph was taken from. We found a main effect of temporal order for skilled athletes, that is, faster reaction times for prime-target pairs that reflected the natural movement order as opposed to the reversed movement order. This result indicates that temporal-order information pertaining to the domain of expertise plays a critical role in athletes' perceptual capacities. For novices, data analyses revealed an interaction between temporal order and movement phases. That is, only the reversed movement order of flight-approach pictures increased processing time. Taken together, the results suggest that the structure of cognitive movement representation modulates unconscious processing of movement pictures and points to a functional role of motor representations in visual perception.

Long-lasting effects of performance-contingent unconscious and conscious reward incentives during cued task-switching.

PubMed

Capa, Rémi L; Bouquet, Cédric A; Dreher, Jean-Claude; Dufour, André

2013-01-01

Motivation is often thought to interact consciously with executive control, although recent studies have indicated that motivation can also be unconscious. To date, however, the effects of unconscious motivation on high-order executive control functions have not been explored. Only a few studies using subliminal stimuli (i.e., those not related to motivation, such as an arrow to prime a response) have reported short-lived effects on high-order executive control functions. Here, building on research on unconscious motivation, in which a behavior of perseverance is induced to attain a goal, we hypothesized that subliminal motivation can have long-lasting effects on executive control processes. We investigated the impact of unconscious/conscious monetary reward incentives on evoked potentials and neural activity dynamics during cued task-switching performance. Participants performed long runs of task-switching. At the beginning of each run, a reward (50 cents or 1 cent) was displayed, either subliminally or supraliminally. Participants earned the reward contingent upon their correct responses to each trial of the run. A higher percentage of runs was achieved with higher (conscious and unconscious) than lower rewards, indicating that unconscious high rewards have long-lasting behavioral effects. Event-related potential (ERP) results indicated that unconscious and conscious rewards influenced preparatory effort in task preparation, as suggested by a greater fronto-central contingent negative variation (CNV) starting at cue-onset. However, a greater parietal P3 associated with better reaction times (RTs) was observed only under conditions of conscious high reward, suggesting a larger amount of working memory invested during task performance. Together, these results indicate that unconscious and conscious motivations are similar at early stages of task-switching preparation but differ during task performance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Helping medical learners recognise and manage unconscious bias toward certain patient groups.

PubMed

Teal, Cayla R; Gill, Anne C; Green, Alexander R; Crandall, Sonia

2012-01-01

For the last 30 years, developments in cognitive sciences have demonstrated that human behaviour, beliefs and attitudes are shaped by automatic and unconscious cognitive processes. Only recently has much attention been paid to how unconscious biases based on certain patient characteristics may: (i) result in behaviour that is preferential toward or against specific patients; (ii) influence treatment decisions, and (iii) adversely influence the patient-doctor relationship. Partly in response to accreditation requirements, medical educators are now exploring how they might help students and residents to develop awareness of their own potential biases and strategies to mitigate them. In this paper, we briefly review key cognition concepts and describe the limited published literature about educational strategies for addressing unconscious bias. We propose a developmental model to illustrate how individuals might move from absolute denial of unconscious bias to the integration of strategies to mitigate its influence on their interactions with patients and offer recommendations to educators and education researchers. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Incubation and Intuition in Creative Problem Solving.

PubMed

Gilhooly, Kenneth J

2016-01-01

Creative problem solving, in which novel solutions are required, has often been seen as involving a special role for unconscious processes (Unconscious Work) which can lead to sudden intuitive solutions (insights) when a problem is set aside during incubation periods. This notion of Unconscious Work during incubation periods is supported by a review of experimental studies and particularly by studies using the Immediate Incubation paradigm. Other explanations for incubation effects, in terms of Intermittent Work or Beneficial Forgetting are considered. Some recent studies of divergent thinking, using the Alternative Uses task, carried out in my laboratory regarding Immediate vs. Delayed Incubation and the effects of resource competition from interpolated activities are discussed. These studies supported a role for Unconscious Work as against Intermittent Conscious work or Beneficial Forgetting in incubation.

Incubation and Intuition in Creative Problem Solving

PubMed Central

Gilhooly, Kenneth J.

2016-01-01

Creative problem solving, in which novel solutions are required, has often been seen as involving a special role for unconscious processes (Unconscious Work) which can lead to sudden intuitive solutions (insights) when a problem is set aside during incubation periods. This notion of Unconscious Work during incubation periods is supported by a review of experimental studies and particularly by studies using the Immediate Incubation paradigm. Other explanations for incubation effects, in terms of Intermittent Work or Beneficial Forgetting are considered. Some recent studies of divergent thinking, using the Alternative Uses task, carried out in my laboratory regarding Immediate vs. Delayed Incubation and the effects of resource competition from interpolated activities are discussed. These studies supported a role for Unconscious Work as against Intermittent Conscious work or Beneficial Forgetting in incubation. PMID:27499745

The Cognition/Affect Linkage and the Unconscious in Cognitive Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maes, Wayne R.

In recent research cognitive therapists have been paying increased attention to the linkage between thought, feeling, and the nature of the unconscious process. Although traditional cognitive theory maintains that cognition precedes affect, recent research on the relationship has shown that affect may precede cognition. It is only in those cases…

The unconscious pursuit of emotion regulation: Implications for psychological health

PubMed Central

Hopp, Henrik; Troy, Allison S.; Mauss, Iris B.

2012-01-01

Because of the central involvement of emotion regulation in psychological health and the role that implicit (largely unconscious) processes appear to play in emotion regulation, implicit emotion-regulatory processes should play a vital role in psychological health. We hypothesised that implicitly valuing emotion regulation translates into better psychological health in individuals who use adaptive emotion-regulation strategies. A community sample of 222 individuals (56% women) who had recently experienced a stressful life event completed an implicit measure of emotion regulation valuing (ER-IAT) and reported on their habitual use of an important adaptive emotion-regulation strategy: cognitive reappraisal. We measured three domains of psychological health: well-being, depressive symptoms, and social adjustment. As hypothesised, individuals who implicitly valued emotion regulation exhibited greater levels of psychological health, but only when they were high in cognitive reappraisal use. These findings suggest that salutary effects of unconscious emotion-regulation processes depend on its interplay with conscious emotion-regulation processes. PMID:21432692

Further developments of the concept of fantasy.

PubMed

Giustino, Gabriella

2017-06-01

After the Isaacs' seminal work on the nature and function of unconscious phantasy (1948), several authors (mostly in the British Society) have reflected on the topic and tried to extend the concept of fantasy. In this paper I shall examine the contributions of Winnicott, Gaddini, Joseph and Anne Marie Sandler that aim at broadening this psychoanalytic concept. The authors that I have considered share a focus mostly on the early stages of child development. Both Winnicott and Gaddini belong to a line of thinking that explores the vicissitudes of the primary emotional development of the infantile self (in the mother-infant relationship) involving the earliest processes of holding and bodily and kinaesthetic fantasy that form the bodily integrity of the person. The Sandlers focused mostly on the concept of the past unconscious understood as a place of primitive vicissitudes with a deficit in figuration where the process of repression is missing. The present unconscious phantasy (that is located in the here and now) has the function of rendering the past unconscious phantasy partly accessible; otherwise it would remain unknowable. Copyright © 2016 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

The representation of conceptual knowledge: visual, auditory, and olfactory imagery compared with semantic processing.

PubMed

Palmiero, Massimiliano; Di Matteo, Rosalia; Belardinelli, Marta Olivetti

2014-05-01

Two experiments comparing imaginative processing in different modalities and semantic processing were carried out to investigate the issue of whether conceptual knowledge can be represented in different format. Participants were asked to judge the similarity between visual images, auditory images, and olfactory images in the imaginative block, if two items belonged to the same category in the semantic block. Items were verbally cued in both experiments. The degree of similarity between the imaginative and semantic items was changed across experiments. Experiment 1 showed that the semantic processing was faster than the visual and the auditory imaginative processing, whereas no differentiation was possible between the semantic processing and the olfactory imaginative processing. Experiment 2 revealed that only the visual imaginative processing could be differentiated from the semantic processing in terms of accuracy. These results showed that the visual and auditory imaginative processing can be differentiated from the semantic processing, although both visual and auditory images strongly rely on semantic representations. On the contrary, no differentiation is possible within the olfactory domain. Results are discussed in the frame of the imagery debate.

What role does the anterior temporal lobe play in sentence-level processing? Neural correlates of syntactic processing in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia.

PubMed

Wilson, Stephen M; DeMarco, Andrew T; Henry, Maya L; Gesierich, Benno; Babiak, Miranda; Mandelli, Maria Luisa; Miller, Bruce L; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa

2014-05-01

Neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies have implicated the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in sentence-level processing, with syntactic structure-building and/or combinatorial semantic processing suggested as possible roles. A potential challenge to the view that the ATL is involved in syntactic aspects of sentence processing comes from the clinical syndrome of semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (semantic PPA; also known as semantic dementia). In semantic PPA, bilateral neurodegeneration of the ATLs is associated with profound lexical semantic deficits, yet syntax is strikingly spared. The goal of this study was to investigate the neural correlates of syntactic processing in semantic PPA to determine which regions normally involved in syntactic processing are damaged in semantic PPA and whether spared syntactic processing depends on preserved functionality of intact regions, preserved functionality of atrophic regions, or compensatory functional reorganization. We scanned 20 individuals with semantic PPA and 24 age-matched controls using structural MRI and fMRI. Participants performed a sentence comprehension task that emphasized syntactic processing and minimized lexical semantic demands. We found that, in controls, left inferior frontal and left posterior temporal regions were modulated by syntactic processing, whereas anterior temporal regions were not significantly modulated. In the semantic PPA group, atrophy was most severe in the ATLs but extended to the posterior temporal regions involved in syntactic processing. Functional activity for syntactic processing was broadly similar in patients and controls; in particular, whole-brain analyses revealed no significant differences between patients and controls in the regions modulated by syntactic processing. The atrophic left ATL did show abnormal functionality in semantic PPA patients; however, this took the unexpected form of a failure to deactivate. Taken together, our findings indicate that spared syntactic processing in semantic PPA depends on preserved functionality of structurally intact left frontal regions and moderately atrophic left posterior temporal regions, but no functional reorganization was apparent as a consequence of anterior temporal atrophy and dysfunction. These results suggest that the role of the ATL in sentence processing is less likely to relate to syntactic structure-building and more likely to relate to higher-level processes such as combinatorial semantic processing.

Creativity-the unconscious foundations of the incubation period.

PubMed

Ritter, Simone M; Dijksterhuis, Ap

2014-01-01

Creativity is one of the most important assets we have to navigate through the fast changing world of the 21st century. Anecdotal accounts of creative individuals suggest that oftentimes, creative discoveries result from a process whereby initial conscious thought is followed by a period during which one refrains from task-related conscious thought. For example, one may spend an embarrassing amount of time thinking about a problem when the solution suddenly pops into consciousness while taking a shower. Not only creative individuals but also traditional theories of creativity have put a lot of emphasis on this incubation stage in creative thinking. The aim of the present article is twofold. First, an overview of the domain of incubation and creativity is provided by reviewing and discussing studies on incubation, mind-wandering, and sleep. Second, the causes of incubation effects are discussed. Previously, little attention has been paid to the causes of incubation effects and most findings do not really speak to whether the effects should be explained by unconscious processes or merely by consequences of a period of distraction. In the latter case, there is no need to assume active unconscious processes. The findings discussed in the current article support the idea that it is not merely the absence of conscious thought that drives incubation effects, but that during an incubation period unconscious processes contribute to creative thinking. Finally, practical implications and directions for future research will be discussed.

Localising semantic and syntactic processing in spoken and written language comprehension: an Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analysis.

PubMed

Rodd, Jennifer M; Vitello, Sylvia; Woollams, Anna M; Adank, Patti

2015-02-01

We conducted an Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to identify brain regions that are recruited by linguistic stimuli requiring relatively demanding semantic or syntactic processing. We included 54 functional MRI studies that explicitly varied the semantic or syntactic processing load, while holding constant demands on earlier stages of processing. We included studies that introduced a syntactic/semantic ambiguity or anomaly, used a priming manipulation that specifically reduced the load on semantic/syntactic processing, or varied the level of syntactic complexity. The results confirmed the critical role of the posterior left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (LIFG) in semantic and syntactic processing. These results challenge models of sentence comprehension highlighting the role of anterior LIFG for semantic processing. In addition, the results emphasise the posterior (but not anterior) temporal lobe for both semantic and syntactic processing. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unconscious processing of facial attractiveness: invisible attractive faces orient visual attention

PubMed Central

Hung, Shao-Min; Nieh, Chih-Hsuan; Hsieh, Po-Jang

2016-01-01

Past research has proven human’s extraordinary ability to extract information from a face in the blink of an eye, including its emotion, gaze direction, and attractiveness. However, it remains elusive whether facial attractiveness can be processed and influences our behaviors in the complete absence of conscious awareness. Here we demonstrate unconscious processing of facial attractiveness with three distinct approaches. In Experiment 1, the time taken for faces to break interocular suppression was measured. The results showed that attractive faces enjoyed the privilege of breaking suppression and reaching consciousness earlier. In Experiment 2, we further showed that attractive faces had lower visibility thresholds, again suggesting that facial attractiveness could be processed more easily to reach consciousness. Crucially, in Experiment 3, a significant decrease of accuracy on an orientation discrimination task subsequent to an invisible attractive face showed that attractive faces, albeit suppressed and invisible, still exerted an effect by orienting attention. Taken together, for the first time, we show that facial attractiveness can be processed in the complete absence of consciousness, and an unconscious attractive face is still capable of directing our attention. PMID:27848992

Unconscious processing of facial attractiveness: invisible attractive faces orient visual attention.

PubMed

Hung, Shao-Min; Nieh, Chih-Hsuan; Hsieh, Po-Jang

2016-11-16

Past research has proven human's extraordinary ability to extract information from a face in the blink of an eye, including its emotion, gaze direction, and attractiveness. However, it remains elusive whether facial attractiveness can be processed and influences our behaviors in the complete absence of conscious awareness. Here we demonstrate unconscious processing of facial attractiveness with three distinct approaches. In Experiment 1, the time taken for faces to break interocular suppression was measured. The results showed that attractive faces enjoyed the privilege of breaking suppression and reaching consciousness earlier. In Experiment 2, we further showed that attractive faces had lower visibility thresholds, again suggesting that facial attractiveness could be processed more easily to reach consciousness. Crucially, in Experiment 3, a significant decrease of accuracy on an orientation discrimination task subsequent to an invisible attractive face showed that attractive faces, albeit suppressed and invisible, still exerted an effect by orienting attention. Taken together, for the first time, we show that facial attractiveness can be processed in the complete absence of consciousness, and an unconscious attractive face is still capable of directing our attention.

Unconscious Priming According to Multiple S-R Rules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiesel, Andrea; Kunde, Wilfried; Hoffmann, Joachim

2007-01-01

The present study investigated if unconscious primes can be processed according to different stimulus-response (S-R) rules simultaneously. Participants performed two different S-R rules, such as judging a digit as smaller or larger than five and judging a letter as vowel or consonant. These S-R rules were administered in random order and announced…

[Schizophrenia and semantic priming effects].

PubMed

Lecardeur, L; Giffard, B; Eustache, F; Dollfus, S

2006-01-01

This article is a review of studies using the semantic priming paradigm to assess the functioning of semantic memory in schizophrenic patients. Semantic priming describes the phenomenon of increasing the speed with which a string of letters (the target) is recognized as a word (lexical decision task) by presenting to the subject a semantically related word (the prime) prior to the appearance of the target word. This semantic priming is linked to both automatic and controlled processes depending on experimental conditions (stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), percentage of related words and explicit memory instructions). Automatic process observed with short SOA, low related word percentage and instructions asking only to process the target, could be linked to the "automatic spreading activation" through the semantic network. Controlled processes involve "semantic matching" (the number of related and unrelated pairs influences the subjects decision) and "expectancy" (the prime leads the subject to generate an expectancy set of potential target to the prime). These processes can be observed whatever the SOA for the former and with long SOA for the later, but both with only high related word percentage and explicit memory instructions. Studies evaluating semantic priming effects in schizophrenia show conflicting results: schizophrenic patients can present hyperpriming (semantic priming effect is larger in patients than in controls), hypopriming (semantic priming effect is lower in patients than in controls) or equal semantic priming effects compared to control subjects. These results could be associated to a global impairment of controlled processes in schizophrenia, essentially to a dysfunction of semantic matching process. On the other hand, efficiency of semantic automatic spreading activation process is controversial. These discrepancies could be linked to the different experimental conditions used (duration of SOA, proportion of related pairs and instructions), which influence on the degree of involvement of controlled processes and therefore prevent to really assess its functioning. In addition, manipulations of the relation between prime and target (semantic distance, type of semantic relation and strength of semantic relation) seem to influence reaction times. However, the relation between prime and target (mediated priming) frequently used could not be the most relevant relation to understand the way of spreading of activation in semantic network in patients with schizophrenia. Finally, patients with formal thought disorders present particularly high priming effects relative to controls. These abnormal semantic priming effects could reflect a dysfunction of automatic spreading activation process and consequently an exaggerated diffusion of activation in the semantic network. In the future, the inclusion of different groups schizophrenic subjects could allow us to determine whether semantic memory disorders are pathognomonic or specific of a particular group of patients with schizophrenia.

High pressures in room evacuation processes and a first approach to the dynamics around unconscious pedestrians

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cornes, F. E.; Frank, G. A.; Dorso, C. O.

2017-10-01

Clogging raises as the principal phenomenon during many evacuation processes of pedestrians in an emergency situation. As people push to escape from danger, compression forces may increase to harming levels. Many individuals might fall down, while others will try to dodge the fallen people, or, simply pass through them. We studied the dynamics of the crowd for these situations, in the context of the "social force model". We modeled the unconscious (fallen) pedestrians as inanimate bodies that can be dodged (or not) by the surrounding individuals. We found that new morphological structures appear along the evacuating crowd. Under specific conditions, these structures may enhance the evacuation performance. The pedestrian's willings for either dodging or passing through the unconscious individuals play a relevant role in the overall evacuation performance.

What role does the anterior temporal lobe play in sentence-level processing? Neural correlates of syntactic processing in semantic PPA

PubMed Central

Wilson, Stephen M.; DeMarco, Andrew T.; Henry, Maya L.; Gesierich, Benno; Babiak, Miranda; Mandelli, Maria Luisa; Miller, Bruce L.; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa

2014-01-01

Neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies have implicated the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in sentence-level processing, with syntactic structure-building and/or combinatorial semantic processing suggested as possible roles. A potential challenge to the view that the ATL is involved in syntactic aspects of sentence processing comes from the clinical syndrome of semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (semantic PPA, also known as semantic dementia). In semantic PPA, bilateral neurodegeneration of the anterior temporal lobes is associated with profound lexical semantic deficits, yet syntax is strikingly spared. The goal of this study was to investigate the neural correlates of syntactic processing in semantic PPA, in order to determine which regions normally involved in syntactic processing are damaged in semantic PPA, and whether spared syntactic processing depends on preserved functionality of intact regions, preserved functionality of atrophic regions, or compensatory functional reorganization. We scanned 20 individuals with semantic PPA and 24 age-matched controls using structural and functional MRI. Participants performed a sentence comprehension task that emphasized syntactic processing and minimized lexical semantic demands. We found that in controls, left inferior frontal and left posterior temporal regions were modulated by syntactic processing, while anterior temporal regions were not significantly modulated. In the semantic PPA group, atrophy was most severe in the anterior temporal lobes, but extended to the posterior temporal regions involved in syntactic processing. Functional activity for syntactic processing was broadly similar in patients and controls; in particular, whole-brain analyses revealed no significant differences between patients and controls in the regions modulated by syntactic processing. The atrophic left anterior temporal lobe did show abnormal functionality in semantic PPA patients, however this took the unexpected form of a failure to deactivate. Taken together, our findings indicate that spared syntactic processing in semantic PPA depends on preserved functionality of structurally intact left frontal regions and moderately atrophic left posterior temporal regions, but no functional reorganization was apparent as a consequence of anterior temporal atrophy and dysfunction. These results suggest that the role of the anterior temporal lobe in sentence processing is less likely to relate to syntactic structure-building, and more likely to relate to higher level processes such as combinatorial semantic processing. PMID:24345172

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Effects on Semantic Processing in Healthy Individuals.

PubMed

Joyal, Marilyne; Fecteau, Shirley

2016-01-01

Semantic processing allows us to use conceptual knowledge about the world. It has been associated with a large distributed neural network that includes the frontal, temporal and parietal cortices. Recent studies using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) also contributed at investigating semantic processing. The goal of this article was to review studies investigating semantic processing in healthy individuals with tDCS and discuss findings from these studies in line with neuroimaging results. Based on functional magnetic resonance imaging studies assessing semantic processing, we predicted that tDCS applied over the inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and posterior parietal cortex will impact semantic processing. We conducted a search on Pubmed and selected 27 articles in which tDCS was used to modulate semantic processing in healthy subjects. We analysed each article according to these criteria: demographic information, experimental outcomes assessing semantic processing, study design, and effects of tDCS on semantic processes. From the 27 reviewed studies, 8 found main effects of stimulation. In addition to these 8 studies, 17 studies reported an interaction between stimulus types and stimulation conditions (e.g. incoherent functional, but not instrumental, actions were processed faster when anodal tDCS was applied over the posterior parietal cortex as compared to sham tDCS). Results suggest that regions in the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices are involved in semantic processing. tDCS can modulate some aspects of semantic processing and provide information on the functional roles of brain regions involved in this cognitive process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Semantic Processing in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An ERP Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coderre, Emily L.; Chernenok, Mariya; Gordon, Barry; Ledoux, Kerry

2017-01-01

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience difficulties with language, particularly higher-level functions like semantic integration. Yet some studies indicate that semantic processing of non-linguistic stimuli is not impaired, suggesting a language-specific deficit in semantic processing. Using a semantic priming task, we…

Anger in brain and body: the neural and physiological perturbation of decision-making by emotion.

PubMed

Garfinkel, Sarah N; Zorab, Emma; Navaratnam, Nakulan; Engels, Miriam; Mallorquí-Bagué, Núria; Minati, Ludovico; Dowell, Nicholas G; Brosschot, Jos F; Thayer, Julian F; Critchley, Hugo D

2016-01-01

Emotion and cognition are dynamically coupled to bodily arousal: the induction of anger, even unconsciously, can reprioritise neural and physiological resources toward action states that bias cognitive processes. Here we examine behavioural, neural and bodily effects of covert anger processing and its influence on cognition, indexed by lexical decision-making. While recording beat-to-beat blood pressure, the words ANGER or RELAX were presented subliminally just prior to rapid word/non-word reaction-time judgements of letter-strings. Subliminal ANGER primes delayed the time taken to reach rapid lexical decisions, relative to RELAX primes. However, individuals with high trait anger were speeded up by subliminal anger primes. ANGER primes increased systolic blood pressure and the magnitude of this increase predicted reaction time prolongation. Within the brain, ANGER trials evoked an enhancement of activity within dorsal pons and an attenuation of activity within visual occipitotemporal and attentional parietal cortices. Activity within periaqueductal grey matter, occipital and parietal regions increased linearly with evoked blood pressure changes, indicating neural substrates through which covert anger impairs semantic decisions, putatively through its expression as visceral arousal. The behavioural and physiological impact of anger states compromises the efficiency of cognitive processing through action-ready changes in autonomic response that skew regional neural activity. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Semantic Typicality Effects in Acquired Dyslexia: Evidence for Semantic Impairment in Deep Dyslexia.

PubMed

Riley, Ellyn A; Thompson, Cynthia K

2010-06-01

BACKGROUND: Acquired deep dyslexia is characterized by impairment in grapheme-phoneme conversion and production of semantic errors in oral reading. Several theories have attempted to explain the production of semantic errors in deep dyslexia, some proposing that they arise from impairments in both grapheme-phoneme and lexical-semantic processing, and others proposing that such errors stem from a deficit in phonological production. Whereas both views have gained some acceptance, the limited evidence available does not clearly eliminate the possibility that semantic errors arise from a lexical-semantic input processing deficit. AIMS: To investigate semantic processing in deep dyslexia, this study examined the typicality effect in deep dyslexic individuals, phonological dyslexic individuals, and controls using an online category verification paradigm. This task requires explicit semantic access without speech production, focusing observation on semantic processing from written or spoken input. METHODS #ENTITYSTARTX00026; PROCEDURES: To examine the locus of semantic impairment, the task was administered in visual and auditory modalities with reaction time as the primary dependent measure. Nine controls, six phonological dyslexic participants, and five deep dyslexic participants completed the study. OUTCOMES #ENTITYSTARTX00026; RESULTS: Controls and phonological dyslexic participants demonstrated a typicality effect in both modalities, while deep dyslexic participants did not demonstrate a typicality effect in either modality. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that deep dyslexia is associated with a semantic processing deficit. Although this does not rule out the possibility of concomitant deficits in other modules of lexical-semantic processing, this finding suggests a direction for treatment of deep dyslexia focused on semantic processing.

Evidence for the contribution of a threshold retrieval process to semantic memory.

PubMed

Kempnich, Maria; Urquhart, Josephine A; O'Connor, Akira R; Moulin, Chris J A

2017-10-01

It is widely held that episodic retrieval can recruit two processes: a threshold context retrieval process (recollection) and a continuous signal strength process (familiarity). Conversely the processes recruited during semantic retrieval are less well specified. We developed a semantic task analogous to single-item episodic recognition to interrogate semantic recognition receiver-operating characteristics (ROCs) for a marker of a threshold retrieval process. We fitted observed ROC points to three signal detection models: two models typically used in episodic recognition (unequal variance and dual-process signal detection models) and a novel dual-process recollect-to-reject (DP-RR) signal detection model that allows a threshold recollection process to aid both target identification and lure rejection. Given the nature of most semantic questions, we anticipated the DP-RR model would best fit the semantic task data. Experiment 1 (506 participants) provided evidence for a threshold retrieval process in semantic memory, with overall best fits to the DP-RR model. Experiment 2 (316 participants) found within-subjects estimates of episodic and semantic threshold retrieval to be uncorrelated. Our findings add weight to the proposal that semantic and episodic memory are served by similar dual-process retrieval systems, though the relationship between the two threshold processes needs to be more fully elucidated.

Differential Phonological and Semantic Modulation of Neurophysiological Responses to Visual Word Recognition.

PubMed

Drakesmith, Mark; El-Deredy, Wael; Welbourne, Stephen

2015-01-01

Reading words for meaning relies on orthographic, phonological and semantic processing. The triangle model implicates a direct orthography-to-semantics pathway and a phonologically mediated orthography-to-semantics pathway, which interact with each other. The temporal evolution of processing in these routes is not well understood, although theoretical evidence predicts early phonological processing followed by interactive phonological and semantic processing. This study used electroencephalography-event-related potential (ERP) analysis and magnetoencephalography (MEG) source localisation to identify temporal markers and the corresponding neural generators of these processes in early (∼200 ms) and late (∼400 ms) neurophysiological responses to visual words, pseudowords and consonant strings. ERP showed an effect of phonology but not semantics in both time windows, although at ∼400 ms there was an effect of stimulus familiarity. Phonological processing at ~200 ms was localised to the left occipitotemporal cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus. At 400 ms, there was continued phonological processing in the inferior frontal gyrus and additional semantic processing in the anterior temporal cortex. There was also an area in the left temporoparietal junction which was implicated in both phonological and semantic processing. In ERP, the semantic response at ∼400 ms appeared to be masked by concurrent processes relating to familiarity, while MEG successfully differentiated these processes. The results support the prediction of early phonological processing followed by an interaction of phonological and semantic processing during word recognition. Neuroanatomical loci of these processes are consistent with previous neuropsychological and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. The results also have implications for the classical interpretation of N400-like responses as markers for semantic processing.

The deliberation-without-attention effect: evidence for an artifactual interpretation.

PubMed

Lassiter, G Daniel; Lindberg, Matthew J; González-Vallejo, Claudia; Bellezza, Francis S; Phillips, Nathaniel D

2009-06-01

Proponents of unconscious-thought theory assert that letting the unconscious "mull it over" can enhance decisions. In a series of recent studies, researchers demonstrated that participants whose attention was focused on solving a complex problem (i.e., those using conscious thought) made poorer choices, decisions, and judgments than participants whose attention was distracted from the problem (i.e., those purportedly using unconscious thought). We argue that this finding, rather than establishing the existence of a deliberation-without-attention effect, is explained more compellingly in terms of the well-established distinction between on-line and memory-based judgments. In Experiment 1, we reversed the recent finding by simply changing participants' on-line processing goal from impression formation to memorization. Experiment 2 provided a replication and further established that some cognitive effort appears necessary to produce both the original pattern of results and its reversal, suggesting that such judgments are ultimately a product of conscious, rather than unconscious, thinking.

Working memory can enhance unconscious visual perception.

PubMed

Pan, Yi; Cheng, Qiu-Ping; Luo, Qian-Ying

2012-06-01

We demonstrate that unconscious processing of a stimulus property can be enhanced when there is a match between the contents of working memory and the stimulus presented in the visual field. Participants first held a cue (a colored circle) in working memory and then searched for a brief masked target shape presented simultaneously with a distractor shape. When participants reported having no awareness of the target shape at all, search performance was more accurate in the valid condition, where the target matched the cue in color, than in the neutral condition, where the target mismatched the cue. This effect cannot be attributed to bottom-up perceptual priming from the presentation of a memory cue, because unconscious perception was not enhanced when the cue was merely perceptually identified but not actively held in working memory. These findings suggest that reentrant feedback from the contents of working memory modulates unconscious visual perception.

Traces of Unconscious Mental Processes in Introspective Reports and Physiological Responses

PubMed Central

Ivonin, Leonid; Chang, Huang-Ming; Diaz, Marta; Catala, Andreu; Chen, Wei; Rauterberg, Matthias

2015-01-01

Unconscious mental processes have recently started gaining attention in a number of scientific disciplines. One of the theoretical frameworks for describing unconscious processes was introduced by Jung as a part of his model of the psyche. This framework uses the concept of archetypes that represent prototypical experiences associated with objects, people, and situations. Although the validity of Jungian model remains an open question, this framework is convenient from the practical point of view. Moreover, archetypes found numerous applications in the areas of psychology and marketing. Therefore, observation of both conscious and unconscious traces related to archetypal experiences seems to be an interesting research endeavor. In a study with 36 subjects, we examined the effects of experiencing conglomerations of unconscious emotions associated with various archetypes on the participants’ introspective reports and patterns of physiological activations. Our hypothesis for this experiment was that physiological data may predict archetypes more precisely than introspective reports due to the implicit nature of archetypal experiences. Introspective reports were collected using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) technique. Physiological measures included cardiovascular, electrodermal, respiratory responses and skin temperature of the subjects. The subjects were stimulated to feel four archetypal experiences and four explicit emotions by means of film clips. The data related to the explicit emotions served as a reference in analysis of archetypal experiences. Our findings indicated that while prediction models trained on the collected physiological data could recognize the archetypal experiences with accuracy of 55 percent, similar models built based on the SAM data demonstrated performance of only 33 percent. Statistical tests enabled us to confirm that physiological observations are better suited for observation of implicit psychological constructs like archetypes than introspective reports. PMID:25875608

Traces of unconscious mental processes in introspective reports and physiological responses.

PubMed

Ivonin, Leonid; Chang, Huang-Ming; Diaz, Marta; Catala, Andreu; Chen, Wei; Rauterberg, Matthias

2015-01-01

Unconscious mental processes have recently started gaining attention in a number of scientific disciplines. One of the theoretical frameworks for describing unconscious processes was introduced by Jung as a part of his model of the psyche. This framework uses the concept of archetypes that represent prototypical experiences associated with objects, people, and situations. Although the validity of Jungian model remains an open question, this framework is convenient from the practical point of view. Moreover, archetypes found numerous applications in the areas of psychology and marketing. Therefore, observation of both conscious and unconscious traces related to archetypal experiences seems to be an interesting research endeavor. In a study with 36 subjects, we examined the effects of experiencing conglomerations of unconscious emotions associated with various archetypes on the participants' introspective reports and patterns of physiological activations. Our hypothesis for this experiment was that physiological data may predict archetypes more precisely than introspective reports due to the implicit nature of archetypal experiences. Introspective reports were collected using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) technique. Physiological measures included cardiovascular, electrodermal, respiratory responses and skin temperature of the subjects. The subjects were stimulated to feel four archetypal experiences and four explicit emotions by means of film clips. The data related to the explicit emotions served as a reference in analysis of archetypal experiences. Our findings indicated that while prediction models trained on the collected physiological data could recognize the archetypal experiences with accuracy of 55 percent, similar models built based on the SAM data demonstrated performance of only 33 percent. Statistical tests enabled us to confirm that physiological observations are better suited for observation of implicit psychological constructs like archetypes than introspective reports.

Automaticity in Anxiety Disorders and Major Depressive Disorder

PubMed Central

Teachman, Bethany A.; Joormann, Jutta; Steinman, Shari; Gotlib, Ian H.

2012-01-01

In this paper we examine the nature of automatic cognitive processing in anxiety disorders and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Rather than viewing automaticity as a unitary construct, we follow a social cognition perspective (Bargh, 1994) that argues for four theoretically independent features of automaticity: unconscious (processing of emotional stimuli occurs outside awareness), efficient (processing emotional meaning uses minimal attentional resources), unintentional (no goal is needed to engage in processing emotional meaning), and uncontrollable (limited ability to avoid, alter or terminate processing emotional stimuli). Our review of the literature suggests that most anxiety disorders are characterized by uncontrollable, and likely also unconscious and unintentional, biased processing of threat-relevant information. In contrast, MDD is most clearly typified by uncontrollable, but not unconscious or unintentional, processing of negative information. For the anxiety disorders and for MDD, there is not sufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions about efficiency of processing, though early indications are that neither anxiety disorders nor MDD are characterized by this feature. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered. In particular, it is clear that paradigms that more directly delineate the different features of automaticity are required to gain a more comprehensive and systematic understanding of the importance of automatic processing in emotion dysregulation. PMID:22858684

Creativity—the unconscious foundations of the incubation period

PubMed Central

Ritter, Simone M.; Dijksterhuis, Ap

2014-01-01

Creativity is one of the most important assets we have to navigate through the fast changing world of the 21st century. Anecdotal accounts of creative individuals suggest that oftentimes, creative discoveries result from a process whereby initial conscious thought is followed by a period during which one refrains from task-related conscious thought. For example, one may spend an embarrassing amount of time thinking about a problem when the solution suddenly pops into consciousness while taking a shower. Not only creative individuals but also traditional theories of creativity have put a lot of emphasis on this incubation stage in creative thinking. The aim of the present article is twofold. First, an overview of the domain of incubation and creativity is provided by reviewing and discussing studies on incubation, mind-wandering, and sleep. Second, the causes of incubation effects are discussed. Previously, little attention has been paid to the causes of incubation effects and most findings do not really speak to whether the effects should be explained by unconscious processes or merely by consequences of a period of distraction. In the latter case, there is no need to assume active unconscious processes. The findings discussed in the current article support the idea that it is not merely the absence of conscious thought that drives incubation effects, but that during an incubation period unconscious processes contribute to creative thinking. Finally, practical implications and directions for future research will be discussed. PMID:24782742

Acute tryptophan depletion attenuates conscious appraisal of social emotional signals in healthy female volunteers.

PubMed

Beacher, Felix D C C; Gray, Marcus A; Minati, Ludovico; Whale, Richard; Harrison, Neil A; Critchley, Hugo D

2011-02-01

Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) decreases levels of central serotonin. ATD thus enables the cognitive effects of serotonin to be studied, with implications for the understanding of psychiatric conditions, including depression. To determine the role of serotonin in conscious (explicit) and unconscious/incidental processing of emotional information. A randomized, double-blind, cross-over design was used with 15 healthy female participants. Subjective mood was recorded at baseline and after 4 h, when participants performed an explicit emotional face processing task, and a task eliciting unconscious processing of emotionally aversive and neutral images presented subliminally using backward masking. ATD was associated with a robust reduction in plasma tryptophan at 4 h but had no effect on mood or autonomic physiology. ATD was associated with significantly lower attractiveness ratings for happy faces and attenuation of intensity/arousal ratings of angry faces. ATD also reduced overall reaction times on the unconscious perception task, but there was no interaction with emotional content of masked stimuli. ATD did not affect breakthrough perception (accuracy in identification) of masked images. ATD attenuates the attractiveness of positive faces and the negative intensity of threatening faces, suggesting that serotonin contributes specifically to the appraisal of the social salience of both positive and negative salient social emotional cues. We found no evidence that serotonin affects unconscious processing of negative emotional stimuli. These novel findings implicate serotonin in conscious aspects of active social and behavioural engagement and extend knowledge regarding the effects of ATD on emotional perception.

A Tri-network Model of Human Semantic Processing

PubMed Central

Xu, Yangwen; He, Yong; Bi, Yanchao

2017-01-01

Humans process the meaning of the world via both verbal and nonverbal modalities. It has been established that widely distributed cortical regions are involved in semantic processing, yet the global wiring pattern of this brain system has not been considered in the current neurocognitive semantic models. We review evidence from the brain-network perspective, which shows that the semantic system is topologically segregated into three brain modules. Revisiting previous region-based evidence in light of these new network findings, we postulate that these three modules support multimodal experiential representation, language-supported representation, and semantic control. A tri-network neurocognitive model of semantic processing is proposed, which generates new hypotheses regarding the network basis of different types of semantic processes. PMID:28955266

Intact unconscious processing of eye contact in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Seymour, Kiley; Rhodes, Gillian; Stein, Timo; Langdon, Robyn

2016-03-01

The perception of eye gaze is crucial for social interaction, providing essential information about another person's goals, intentions, and focus of attention. People with schizophrenia suffer a wide range of social cognitive deficits, including abnormalities in eye gaze perception. For instance, patients have shown an increased bias to misjudge averted gaze as being directed toward them. In this study we probed early unconscious mechanisms of gaze processing in schizophrenia using a technique known as continuous flash suppression. Previous research using this technique to render faces with direct and averted gaze initially invisible reveals that direct eye contact gains privileged access to conscious awareness in healthy adults. We found that patients, as with healthy control subjects, showed the same effect: faces with direct eye gaze became visible significantly faster than faces with averted gaze. This suggests that early unconscious processing of eye gaze is intact in schizophrenia and implies that any misjudgments of gaze direction must manifest at a later conscious stage of gaze processing where deficits and/or biases in attributing mental states to gaze and/or beliefs about being watched may play a role.

Relations between Short-term Memory Deficits, Semantic Processing, and Executive Function

PubMed Central

Allen, Corinne M.; Martin, Randi C.; Martin, Nadine

2012-01-01

Background Previous research has suggested separable short-term memory (STM) buffers for the maintenance of phonological and lexical-semantic information, as some patients with aphasia show better ability to retain semantic than phonological information and others show the reverse. Recently, researchers have proposed that deficits to the maintenance of semantic information in STM are related to executive control abilities. Aims The present study investigated the relationship of executive function abilities with semantic and phonological short-term memory (STM) and semantic processing in such patients, as some previous research has suggested that semantic STM deficits and semantic processing abilities are critically related to specific or general executive function deficits. Method and Procedures 20 patients with aphasia and STM deficits were tested on measures of short-term retention, semantic processing, and both complex and simple executive function tasks. Outcome and Results In correlational analyses, we found no relation between semantic STM and performance on simple or complex executive function tasks. In contrast, phonological STM was related to executive function performance in tasks that had a verbal component, suggesting that performance in some executive function tasks depends on maintaining or rehearsing phonological codes. Although semantic STM was not related to executive function ability, performance on semantic processing tasks was related to executive function, perhaps due to similar executive task requirements in both semantic processing and executive function tasks. Conclusions Implications for treatment and interpretations of executive deficits are discussed. PMID:22736889

Semantic processing during morphological priming: an ERP study.

PubMed

Beyersmann, Elisabeth; Iakimova, Galina; Ziegler, Johannes C; Colé, Pascale

2014-09-04

Previous research has yielded conflicting results regarding the onset of semantic processing during morphological priming. The present study was designed to further explore the time-course of morphological processing using event-related potentials (ERPs). We conducted a primed lexical decision study comparing a morphological (LAVAGE - laver [washing - wash]), a semantic (LINGE - laver [laundry - wash]), an orthographic (LAVANDE - laver [lavender - wash]), and an unrelated control condition (HOSPICE - laver [nursing home - wash]), using the same targets across the four priming conditions. The behavioral data showed significant effects of morphological and semantic priming, with the magnitude of morphological priming being significantly larger than the magnitude of semantic priming. The ERP data revealed significant morphological but no semantic priming at 100-250 ms. Furthermore, a reduction of the N400 amplitude in the morphological condition compared to the semantic and orthographic condition demonstrates that the morphological priming effect was not entirely due to the semantic or orthographic overlap between the prime and the target. The present data reflect an early process of semantically blind morphological decomposition, and a later process of morpho-semantic decomposition, which we discuss in the context of recent morphological processing theories. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Syntactic and semantic processing of Chinese middle sentences: evidence from event-related potentials.

PubMed

Zeng, Tao; Mao, Wen; Lu, Qing

2016-05-25

Scalp-recorded event-related potentials are known to be sensitive to particular aspects of sentence processing. The N400 component is widely recognized as an effect closely related to lexical-semantic processing. The absence of an N400 effect in participants performing tasks in Indo-European languages has been considered evidence that failed syntactic category processing appears to block lexical-semantic integration and that syntactic structure building is a prerequisite of semantic analysis. An event-related potential experiment was designed to investigate whether such syntactic primacy can be considered to apply equally to Chinese sentence processing. Besides correct middles, sentences with either single semantic or single syntactic violation as well as double syntactic and semantic anomaly were used in the present research. Results showed that both purely semantic and combined violation induced a broad negativity in the time window 300-500 ms, indicating the independence of lexical-semantic integration. These findings provided solid evidence that lexical-semantic parsing plays a crucial role in Chinese sentence comprehension.

Unconscious and conscious processing of negative emotions examined through affective priming.

PubMed

Okubo, Chisa; Ogawa, Toshiki

2013-04-01

This study investigated unconscious and conscious processes by which negative emotions arise. Participants (26 men, 47 women; M age = 20.3 yr.) evaluated target words that were primed with subliminally or supraliminally presented emotional pictures. Stimulus onset asynchrony was either 200 or 800 msec. With subliminal presentations, reaction times to negative targets were longer than reaction times to positive targets after negative primes for the 200-msec. stimulus onset asynchrony. Reaction times to positive targets after negative or positive primes were shorter when the stimulus onset asynchrony was 800 msec. For supraliminal presentations, reaction times were longer when evaluating targets that followed emotionally opposite primes. When emotional stimuli were consciously distinguished, the evoked emotional states might lead to emotional conflicts, although the qualitatively different effects might be caused when subliminally presented emotion evoking stimulus was appraised unconsciously; that possibility was discussed.

Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the formation of episodic associations

PubMed Central

Long, Nicole M.; Kahana, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of successful episodic association formation whereby high frequency EEG activity (HFA, 44 – 100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that support the formation of novel episodic associations. PMID:27617775

Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the formation of episodic associations.

PubMed

Long, Nicole M; Kahana, Michael J

2017-02-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of successful episodic association formation whereby high-frequency EEG activity (HFA, 44-100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that support the formation of novel episodic associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural Substrates of Processing Anger in Language: Contributions of Prosody and Semantics.

PubMed

Castelluccio, Brian C; Myers, Emily B; Schuh, Jillian M; Eigsti, Inge-Marie

2016-12-01

Emotions are conveyed primarily through two channels in language: semantics and prosody. While many studies confirm the role of a left hemisphere network in processing semantic emotion, there has been debate over the role of the right hemisphere in processing prosodic emotion. Some evidence suggests a preferential role for the right hemisphere, and other evidence supports a bilateral model. The relative contributions of semantics and prosody to the overall processing of affect in language are largely unexplored. The present work used functional magnetic resonance imaging to elucidate the neural bases of processing anger conveyed by prosody or semantic content. Results showed a robust, distributed, bilateral network for processing angry prosody and a more modest left hemisphere network for processing angry semantics when compared to emotionally neutral stimuli. Findings suggest the nervous system may be more responsive to prosodic cues in speech than to the semantic content of speech.

The benefits of sensorimotor knowledge: body-object interaction facilitates semantic processing.

PubMed

Siakaluk, Paul D; Pexman, Penny M; Sears, Christopher R; Wilson, Kim; Locheed, Keri; Owen, William J

2008-04-05

This article examined the effects of body-object interaction (BOI) on semantic processing. BOI measures perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. In Experiment 1, BOI effects were examined in 2 semantic categorization tasks (SCT) in which participants decided if words are easily imageable. Responses were faster and more accurate for high BOI words (e.g., mask) than for low BOI words (e.g., ship). In Experiment 2, BOI effects were examined in a semantic lexical decision task (SLDT), which taps both semantic feedback and semantic processing. The BOI effect was larger in the SLDT than in the SCT, suggesting that BOI facilitates both semantic feedback and semantic processing. The findings are consistent with the embodied cognition perspective (e.g., Barsalou's, 1999, Perceptual Symbols Theory), which proposes that sensorimotor interactions with the environment are incorporated in semantic knowledge. 2008 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The Ghost Is the Machine: How Can We Visibilize the Unseen Norms and Power of Global Health? Comment on "Navigating Between Stealth Advocacy and Unconscious Dogmatism: The Challenge of Researching the Norms, Politics and Power of Global Health".

PubMed

Forman, Lisa

2015-12-03

In his recent commentary, Gorik Ooms argues that "denying that researchers, like all humans, have personal opinions ... drives researchers' personal opinion underground, turning global health science into unconscious dogmatism or stealth advocacy, avoiding the crucial debate about the politics and underlying normative premises of global health." These 'unconscious' dimensions of global health are as Ooms and others suggest, rooted in its unacknowledged normative, political and power aspects. But why would these aspects be either unconscious or unacknowledged? In this commentary, I argue that the 'unconscious' and 'unacknowledged' nature of the norms, politics and power that drive global health is a direct byproduct of the processes through which power operates, and a primary mechanism by which power sustains and reinforces itself. To identify what is unconscious and unacknowledged requires more than broadening the disciplinary base of global health research to those social sciences with deep traditions of thought in the domains of power, politics and norms, albeit that doing so is a fundamental first step. I argue that it also requires individual and institutional commitments to adopt reflexive, humble and above all else, equitable practices within global health research. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

The semantic anatomical network: Evidence from healthy and brain-damaged patient populations.

PubMed

Fang, Yuxing; Han, Zaizhu; Zhong, Suyu; Gong, Gaolang; Song, Luping; Liu, Fangsong; Huang, Ruiwang; Du, Xiaoxia; Sun, Rong; Wang, Qiang; He, Yong; Bi, Yanchao

2015-09-01

Semantic processing is central to cognition and is supported by widely distributed gray matter (GM) regions and white matter (WM) tracts. The exact manner in which GM regions are anatomically connected to process semantics remains unknown. We mapped the semantic anatomical network (connectome) by conducting diffusion imaging tractography in 48 healthy participants across 90 GM "nodes," and correlating the integrity of each obtained WM edge and semantic performance across 80 brain-damaged patients. Fifty-three WM edges were obtained whose lower integrity associated with semantic deficits and together with their linked GM nodes constitute a semantic WM network. Graph analyses of this network revealed three structurally segregated modules that point to distinct semantic processing components and identified network hubs and connectors that are central in the communication across the subnetworks. Together, our results provide an anatomical framework of human semantic network, advancing the understanding of the structural substrates supporting semantic processing. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An investigation into semantic and phonological processing in individuals with Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Lee, Cheryl S; Binder, Katherine S

2014-02-01

The current study examined semantic and phonological processing in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS). Previous research in language processing in individuals with WS suggests a complex linguistic system characterized by "deviant" semantic organization and differential phonological processing. Two experiments explored these representations in individuals with WS. The first experiment analyzed the relative typicality and frequency of participants' responses to a semantic and phonological fluency task. The second experiment tapped into online language processing through a semantic priming task and an online sentence reading task measuring the effects of word frequency. Thirteen participants with WS were matched to a group of participants on reading grade level and a group of participants on chronological age. The results of the semantic fluency task, semantic priming task, and word frequency task suggest that semantic organization in individuals with WS appears commensurate with their reading level rather than deviant. The pattern of results suggests that individuals with WS do not appear to have deviant semantic organization, while confirming that online tasks that tap into these processes are a promising direction in investigations that include atypically developing populations. These findings for the phonological tasks warrant further research into phonological processing in individuals with WS.

Masked immediate-repetition-priming effect on the early lexical process in the bilateral anterior temporal areas assessed by neuromagnetic responses.

PubMed

Fujimaki, Norio; Hayakawa, Tomoe; Ihara, Aya; Matani, Ayumu; Wei, Qiang; Terazono, Yasushi; Murata, Tsutomu

2010-10-01

A masked priming paradigm has been used to measure unconscious and automatic context effects on the processing of words. However, its spatiotemporal neural basis has not yet been clarified. To test the hypothesis that masked repetition priming causes enhancement of neural activation, we conducted a magnetoencephalography experiment in which a prime was visually presented for a short duration (50 ms), preceded by a mask pattern, and followed by a target word that was represented by a Japanese katakana syllabogram. The prime, which was identical to the target, was represented by another hiragana syllabogram in the "Repeated" condition, whereas it was a string of unreadable pseudocharacters in the "Unrepeated" condition. Subjects executed a categorical decision task on the target. Activation was significantly larger for the Repeated condition than for the Unrepeated condition at a time window of 150-250 ms in the right occipital area, 200-250 ms in the bilateral ventral occipitotemporal areas, and 200-250 ms and 200-300 ms in the left and right anterior temporal areas, respectively. These areas have been reported to be related to processing of visual-form/orthography and lexico-semantics, and the enhanced activation supports the hypothesis. However, the absence of the priming effect in the areas related to phonological processing implies that automatic phonological priming effect depends on task requirements. 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

"A Long-Legged Fly upon the Stream": Poetry, Memory and the Unconscious

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayley, Nicholas

2016-01-01

In this paper I introduce some concepts from psychoanalysis, a poem, a clinical vignette and a personal anecdote. I am asking what light the knowledge of unconscious processes can throw on the memorisation of poems and therefore what use to the individual can be derived from learning poems by heart. A version of the paper was first given at the…

Lost in dissociation: The main paradigms in unconscious cognition.

PubMed

Augusto, Luis M

2016-05-01

Contemporary studies in unconscious cognition are essentially founded on dissociation, i.e., on how it dissociates with respect to conscious mental processes and representations. This is claimed to be in so many and diverse ways that one is often lost in dissociation. In order to reduce this state of confusion we here carry out two major tasks: based on the central distinction between cognitive processes and representations, we identify and isolate the main dissociation paradigms; we then critically analyze their key tenets and reported findings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Semantic Service Design for Collaborative Business Processes in Internetworked Enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianchini, Devis; Cappiello, Cinzia; de Antonellis, Valeria; Pernici, Barbara

Modern collaborating enterprises can be seen as borderless organizations whose processes are dynamically transformed and integrated with the ones of their partners (Internetworked Enterprises, IE), thus enabling the design of collaborative business processes. The adoption of Semantic Web and service-oriented technologies for implementing collaboration in such distributed and heterogeneous environments promises significant benefits. IE can model their own processes independently by using the Software as a Service paradigm (SaaS). Each enterprise maintains a catalog of available services and these can be shared across IE and reused to build up complex collaborative processes. Moreover, each enterprise can adopt its own terminology and concepts to describe business processes and component services. This brings requirements to manage semantic heterogeneity in process descriptions which are distributed across different enterprise systems. To enable effective service-based collaboration, IEs have to standardize their process descriptions and model them through component services using the same approach and principles. For enabling collaborative business processes across IE, services should be designed following an homogeneous approach, possibly maintaining a uniform level of granularity. In the paper we propose an ontology-based semantic modeling approach apt to enrich and reconcile semantics of process descriptions to facilitate process knowledge management and to enable semantic service design (by discovery, reuse and integration of process elements/constructs). The approach brings together Semantic Web technologies, techniques in process modeling, ontology building and semantic matching in order to provide a comprehensive semantic modeling framework.

Semantic processes leading to true and false memory formation in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Paz-Alonso, Pedro M; Ghetti, Simona; Ramsay, Ian; Solomon, Marjorie; Yoon, Jong; Carter, Cameron S; Ragland, J Daniel

2013-07-01

Encoding semantic relationships between items on word lists (semantic processing) enhances true memories, but also increases memory distortions. Episodic memory impairments in schizophrenia (SZ) are strongly driven by failures to process semantic relations, but the exact nature of these relational semantic processing deficits is not well understood. Here, we used a false memory paradigm to investigate the impact of implicit and explicit semantic processing manipulations on episodic memory in SZ. Thirty SZ and 30 demographically matched healthy controls (HC) studied Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists of semantically associated words. Half of the lists had strong implicit semantic associations and the remainder had low strength associations. Similarly, half of the lists were presented under "standard" instructions and the other half under explicit "relational processing" instructions. After study, participants performed recall and old/new recognition tests composed of targets, critical lures, and unrelated lures. HC exhibited higher true memories and better discriminability between true and false memory compared to SZ. High, versus low, associative strength increased false memory rates in both groups. However, explicit "relational processing" instructions positively improved true memory rates only in HC. Finally, true and false memory rates were associated with severity of disorganized and negative symptoms in SZ. These results suggest that reduced processing of semantic relationships during encoding in SZ may stem from an inability to implement explicit relational processing strategies rather than a fundamental deficit in the implicit activation and retrieval of word meanings from patients' semantic lexicon. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evidence of semantic processing impairments in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Cousins, Katheryn A Q; Grossman, Murray

2017-12-01

Category-specific impairments caused by brain damage can provide important insights into how semantic concepts are organized in the brain. Recent research has demonstrated that disease to sensory and motor cortices can impair perceptual feature knowledge important to the representation of semantic concepts. This evidence supports the grounded cognition theory of semantics, the view that lexical knowledge is partially grounded in perceptual experience and that sensory and motor regions support semantic representations. Less well understood, however, is how heteromodal semantic hubs work to integrate and process semantic information. Although the majority of semantic research to date has focused on how sensory cortical areas are important for the representation of semantic features, new research explores how semantic memory is affected by neurodegeneration in regions important for semantic processing. Here, we review studies that demonstrate impairments to abstract noun knowledge in behavioural variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD) and to action verb knowledge in Parkinson's disease, and discuss how these deficits relate to disease of the semantic selection network. Findings demonstrate that semantic selection processes are supported by the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and basal ganglia, and that disease to these regions in bvFTD and Parkinson's disease can lead to categorical impairments for abstract nouns and action verbs, respectively.

Individual Variability in the Semantic Processing of English Compound Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidtke, Daniel; Van Dyke, Julie A.; Kuperman, Victor

2018-01-01

Semantic transparency effects during compound word recognition provide critical insight into the organization of semantic knowledge and the nature of semantic processing. The past 25 years of psycholinguistic research on compound semantic transparency has produced discrepant effects, leaving the existence and nature of its influence unresolved. In…

Semantic Memory in the Clinical Progression of Alzheimer Disease.

PubMed

Tchakoute, Christophe T; Sainani, Kristin L; Henderson, Victor W

2017-09-01

Semantic memory measures may be useful in tracking and predicting progression of Alzheimer disease. We investigated relationships among semantic memory tasks and their 1-year predictive value in women with Alzheimer disease. We conducted secondary analyses of a randomized clinical trial of raloxifene in 42 women with late-onset mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease. We assessed semantic memory with tests of oral confrontation naming, category fluency, semantic recognition and semantic naming, and semantic density in written narrative discourse. We measured global cognition (Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale), dementia severity (Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes), and daily function (Activities of Daily Living Inventory) at baseline and 1 year. At baseline and 1 year, most semantic memory scores correlated highly or moderately with each other and with global cognition, dementia severity, and daily function. Semantic memory task performance at 1 year had worsened one-third to one-half standard deviation. Factor analysis of baseline test scores distinguished processes in semantic and lexical retrieval (semantic recognition, semantic naming, confrontation naming) from processes in lexical search (semantic density, category fluency). The semantic-lexical retrieval factor predicted global cognition at 1 year. Considered separately, baseline confrontation naming and category fluency predicted dementia severity, while semantic recognition and a composite of semantic recognition and semantic naming predicted global cognition. No individual semantic memory test predicted daily function. Semantic-lexical retrieval and lexical search may represent distinct aspects of semantic memory. Semantic memory processes are sensitive to cognitive decline and dementia severity in Alzheimer disease.

Semantic richness effects in lexical decision: The role of feedback.

PubMed

Yap, Melvin J; Lim, Gail Y; Pexman, Penny M

2015-11-01

Across lexical processing tasks, it is well established that words with richer semantic representations are recognized faster. This suggests that the lexical system has access to meaning before a word is fully identified, and is consistent with a theoretical framework based on interactive and cascaded processing. Specifically, semantic richness effects are argued to be produced by feedback from semantic representations to lower-level representations. The present study explores the extent to which richness effects are mediated by feedback from lexical- to letter-level representations. In two lexical decision experiments, we examined the joint effects of stimulus quality and four semantic richness dimensions (imageability, number of features, semantic neighborhood density, semantic diversity). With the exception of semantic diversity, robust additive effects of stimulus quality and richness were observed for the targeted dimensions. Our results suggest that semantic feedback does not typically reach earlier levels of representation in lexical decision, and further reinforces the idea that task context modulates the processing dynamics of early word recognition processes.

Syntax does not necessarily precede semantics in sentence processing: ERP evidence from Chinese.

PubMed

Zhang, Yaxu; Li, Ping; Piao, Qiuhong; Liu, Youyi; Huang, Yongjing; Shu, Hua

2013-07-01

Two event-related potential experiments were conducted to examine whether the processing of syntactic category or syntactic subcategorization frame always needs to temporally precede semantic processing during the reading of Chinese sentences of object-subject-verb construction. The sentences contained (a) no anomalies, (b) semantic only anomalies, (c) syntactic category plus semantic anomalies, or (d) transitivity plus semantic anomalies. In both experiments, all three types of anomalies elicited a broad negativity between 300 and 500 ms. This negativity included an N400 effect, given its distribution. Moreover, syntactic category plus semantic anomalies elicited a P600 response, whereas the other two types of anomalies did not. The finding of N400 effects suggests that semantic integration can be attempted even when the processing of syntactic category or syntactic subcategorization frame is unsuccessful. Thus, syntactic processing is not a necessary prerequisite for the initiation of semantic integration in Chinese. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Function of Semantics in Automated Language Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pacak, Milos; Pratt, Arnold W.

This paper is a survey of some of the major semantic models that have been developed for automated semantic analysis of natural language. Current approaches to semantic analysis and logical interference are based mainly on models of human cognitive processes such as Quillian's semantic memory, Simmon's Protosynthex III and others. All existing…

Attractor Dynamics and Semantic Neighborhood Density: Processing Is Slowed by Near Neighbors and Speeded by Distant Neighbors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mirman, Daniel; Magnuson, James S.

2008-01-01

The authors investigated semantic neighborhood density effects on visual word processing to examine the dynamics of activation and competition among semantic representations. Experiment 1 validated feature-based semantic representations as a basis for computing semantic neighborhood density and suggested that near and distant neighbors have…

The Masked Semantic Priming Effect Is Task Dependent: Reconsidering the Automatic Spreading Activation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wit, Bianca; Kinoshita, Sachiko

2015-01-01

Semantic priming effects are popularly explained in terms of an automatic spreading activation process, according to which the activation of a node in a semantic network spreads automatically to interconnected nodes, preactivating a semantically related word. It is expected from this account that semantic priming effects should be routinely…

Electrophysiological evidence of automatic early semantic processing.

PubMed

Hinojosa, José A; Martín-Loeches, Manuel; Muñoz, Francisco; Casado, Pilar; Pozo, Miguel A

2004-01-01

This study investigates the automatic-controlled nature of early semantic processing by means of the Recognition Potential (RP), an event-related potential response that reflects lexical selection processes. For this purpose tasks differing in their processing requirements were used. Half of the participants performed a physical task involving a lower-upper case discrimination judgement (shallow processing requirements), whereas the other half carried out a semantic task, consisting in detecting animal names (deep processing requirements). Stimuli were identical in the two tasks. Reaction time measures revealed that the physical task was easier to perform than the semantic task. However, RP effects elicited by the physical and semantic tasks did not differ in either latency, amplitude, or topographic distribution. Thus, the results from the present study suggest that early semantic processing is automatically triggered whenever a linguistic stimulus enters the language processor.

About Edible Restaurants: Conflicts between Syntax and Semantics as Revealed by ERPs

PubMed Central

Kos, Miriam; Vosse, Theo; van den Brink, Daniëlle; Hagoort, Peter

2010-01-01

In order to investigate conflicts between semantics and syntax, we recorded ERPs, while participants read Dutch sentences. Sentences containing conflicts between syntax and semantics (Fred eats in a sandwich…/Fred eats a restaurant…) elicited an N400. These results show that conflicts between syntax and semantics not necessarily lead to P600 effects and are in line with the processing competition account. According to this parallel account the syntactic and semantic processing streams are fully interactive and information from one level can influence the processing at another level. The relative strength of the cues of the processing streams determines which level is affected most strongly by the conflict. The processing competition account maintains the distinction between the N400 as index for semantic processing and the P600 as index for structural processing. PMID:21833277

Acute tryptophan depletion attenuates conscious appraisal of social emotional signals in healthy female volunteers

PubMed Central

Gray, Marcus A.; Minati, Ludovico; Whale, Richard; Harrison, Neil A.; Critchley, Hugo D.

2010-01-01

Rationale Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) decreases levels of central serotonin. ATD thus enables the cognitive effects of serotonin to be studied, with implications for the understanding of psychiatric conditions, including depression. Objective To determine the role of serotonin in conscious (explicit) and unconscious/incidental processing of emotional information. Materials and methods A randomized, double-blind, cross-over design was used with 15 healthy female participants. Subjective mood was recorded at baseline and after 4 h, when participants performed an explicit emotional face processing task, and a task eliciting unconscious processing of emotionally aversive and neutral images presented subliminally using backward masking. Results ATD was associated with a robust reduction in plasma tryptophan at 4 h but had no effect on mood or autonomic physiology. ATD was associated with significantly lower attractiveness ratings for happy faces and attenuation of intensity/arousal ratings of angry faces. ATD also reduced overall reaction times on the unconscious perception task, but there was no interaction with emotional content of masked stimuli. ATD did not affect breakthrough perception (accuracy in identification) of masked images. Conclusions ATD attenuates the attractiveness of positive faces and the negative intensity of threatening faces, suggesting that serotonin contributes specifically to the appraisal of the social salience of both positive and negative salient social emotional cues. We found no evidence that serotonin affects unconscious processing of negative emotional stimuli. These novel findings implicate serotonin in conscious aspects of active social and behavioural engagement and extend knowledge regarding the effects of ATD on emotional perception. PMID:20596858

Automaticity of higher cognitive functions: neurophysiological evidence for unconscious syntactic processing of masked words.

PubMed

Jiménez-Ortega, Laura; García-Milla, Marcos; Fondevila, Sabela; Casado, Pilar; Hernández-Gutiérrez, David; Martín-Loeches, Manuel

2014-12-01

Models of language comprehension assume that syntactic processing is automatic, at least at early stages. However, the degree of automaticity of syntactic processing is still controversial. Evidence of automaticity is either indirect or has been observed for pairs of words, which might provide a poor syntactic context in comparison to sentences. The present study investigates the automaticity of syntactic processing using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during sentence processing. To this end, masked adjectives that could either be syntactically correct or incorrect relative to a sentence being processed appeared just prior to the presentation of supraliminal adjectives. The latter could also be correct or incorrect. According to our data, subliminal gender agreement violations embedded in a sentence trigger an early anterior negativity-like modulation, whereas supraliminal gender agreement violations elicited a later anterior negativity. First-pass syntactic parsing thus appears to be unconsciously and automatically elicited. Interestingly, a P600-like modulation of short duration and early latency could also be observed for masked violations. In addition, masked violations also modulated the P600 component elicited by unmasked targets, probably reflecting that the mechanisms of revising a structural mismatch appear affected by subliminal information. According to our findings, both conscious and unconscious processes apparently contribute to syntactic processing. These results are discussed in line with most recent theories of automaticity and syntactic processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The developmental emergence of unconscious fear processing from eyes during infancy.

PubMed

Jessen, Sarah; Grossmann, Tobias

2016-02-01

From early in life, emotion detection plays an important role during social interactions. Recently, 7-month-old infants have been shown to process facial signs of fear in others without conscious perception and solely on the basis of their eyes. However, it is not known whether unconscious fear processing from eyes is present before 7months of age or only emerges at around 7months. To investigate this question, we measured 5-month-old infants' event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to subliminally presented fearful and non-fearful eyes and compared these with 7-month-old infants' ERP responses from a previous study. Our ERP results revealed that only 7-month-olds, but not 5-month-olds, distinguished between fearful and non-fearful eyes. Specifically, 7-month-olds' processing of fearful eyes was reflected in early visual processes over occipital cortex and later attentional processes over frontal cortex. This suggests that, in line with prior work on the conscious detection of fearful faces, the brain processes associated with the unconscious processing of fearful eyes develop between 5 and 7months of age. More generally, these findings support the notion that emotion perception and the underlying brain processes undergo critical change during the first year of life. Therefore, the current data provide further evidence for viewing infancy as a formative period in human socioemotional functioning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intelligence related upper alpha desynchronization in a semantic memory task.

PubMed

Doppelmayr, M; Klimesch, W; Hödlmoser, K; Sauseng, P; Gruber, W

2005-07-30

Recent evidence shows that event-related (upper) alpha desynchronization (ERD) is related to cognitive performance. Several studies observed a positive, some a negative relationship. The latter finding, interpreted in terms of the neural efficiency hypothesis, suggests that good performance is associated with a more 'efficient', smaller extent of cortical activation. Other studies found that ERD increases with semantic processing demands and that this increase is larger for good performers. Studies supporting the neural efficiency hypothesis used tasks that do not specifically require semantic processing. Thus, we assume that the lack of semantic processing demands may at least in part be responsible for the reduced ERD. In the present study we measured ERD during a difficult verbal-semantic task. The findings demonstrate that during semantic processing, more intelligent (as compared to less intelligent) subjects exhibited a significantly larger upper alpha ERD over the left hemisphere. We conclude that more intelligent subjects exhibit a more extensive activation in a semantic processing system and suggest that divergent findings regarding the neural efficiency hypotheses are due to task specific differences in semantic processing demands.

Unconscious Affective Responses to Food.

PubMed

Sato, Wataru; Sawada, Reiko; Kubota, Yasutaka; Toichi, Motomi; Fushiki, Tohru

2016-01-01

Affective or hedonic responses to food are crucial for humans, both advantageously (e.g., enhancing survival) and disadvantageously (e.g., promoting overeating and lifestyle-related disease). Although previous psychological studies have reported evidence of unconscious cognitive and behavioral processing related to food, it remains unknown whether affective reactions to food can be triggered unconsciously and its relationship with daily eating behaviors. We investigated these issues by using the subliminal affective priming paradigm. Photographs of food or corresponding mosaic images were presented in the peripheral visual field for 33 ms. Target photos of faces with emotionally neutral expressions were then presented, and participants rated their preferences for the faces. Eating behaviors were also assessed using questionnaires. The food images, relative to the mosaics, increased participants' preference for subsequent target faces. Furthermore, the difference in the preference induced by food versus mosaic images was positively correlated with the tendency to engage in external eating. These results suggest that unconscious affective reactions are elicited by the sight of food and that these responses contribute to daily eating behaviors related to overeating.

The semiotics of gender.

PubMed

Van Buren, J

1992-01-01

The semiotics of gender are investigated in this article for the purpose of exploring the way that deep unconscious motives in relationship to cultural biases give rise to gender concepts. Theories of semiotic processes, including Jacques Lacan's concept of the psychoanalytic signifier, are explained briefly and applied to the signs of gender. The article concludes that gender concepts develop out of biology, unconscious feelings, and social patterning, and are not given, natural, and irrevocable.

Commentary: Coming Full Circle--Psychoanalysis, Psychodynamics, and Forensic Psychiatry.

PubMed

Hegarty, Angela M

2015-12-01

Drs. Simopoulos and Cohen argue that knowledge of one's unconscious processes improves the forensic psychiatrist's capacity to manage complex forensic situations and to generate forensic formulations and opinions that are demonstrably more valid and reliable, much like competence in cultural assessment and formulation. In practice, the challenges posed by the application of these principles in forensic settings are far outweighed by the potential benefit. Forensic practice is informed by many specialties. Forensic psychiatrists do not have to complete full training in these disciplines to make use of the knowledge and perspectives they offer. The same may not be true of psychodynamic assessment and formulation. Although much can be learned from supervision, case seminars, conferences, and reading, such knowledge does little to foster awareness of one's unconscious processes that by definition operate outside awareness and thus contribute to the vitiating effect of bias. To date, the only method whereby psychiatrists can effectively come to appreciate their own unconscious processes in action is arguably through their own analysis conducted in the course of training in analysis or psychodynamic psychotherapy. © 2015 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Propofol Requirement for Induction of Unconsciousness Is Reduced in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Case Control Study

PubMed Central

Xu, Xiao-ping; Yu, Xi-ya; Wu, Xi; Hu, Xiao-wu; Chen, Jian-chun; Li, Jin-bao; Deng, Xiao-ming

2015-01-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, but whether the neurodegenerative process influences the pharmacodynamics of propofol remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of PD on pharmacodynamics of propofol. A total of 31 PD patients undergoing surgical treatment (PD group) and 31 pair-controlled non-PD patients undergoing intracranial surgery (NPD group) were recruited to investigate the propofol requirement for unconsciousness induction. Unconsciousness was induced in all patients with target-controlled infusion of propofol. The propofol concentration at which unconsciousness was induced was compared between the two groups. EC50 and EC95 were calculated as well. Demographic data, bispectral index, and hemodynamic values were comparable between PD and NPD groups. The mean target concentration of propofol when unconsciousness was achieved was 2.32 ± 0.38 μg/mL in PD group, which was significantly lower than that in NPD group (2.90 ± 0.35 μg/mL). The EC50 was 2.05 μg/mL (95% CI: 1.85–2.19 μg/mL) in PD group, much lower than the 2.72 μg/mL (95% CI: 2.53–2.88 μg/mL) in NPD group. In conclusion, the effective propofol concentration needed for induction of unconsciousness in 50% of patients is reduced in PD patients. (This trial is registered with NCT01998204.) PMID:26495319

The Semantic Distance Task: Quantifying Semantic Distance with Semantic Network Path Length

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenett, Yoed N.; Levi, Effi; Anaki, David; Faust, Miriam

2017-01-01

Semantic distance is a determining factor in cognitive processes, such as semantic priming, operating upon semantic memory. The main computational approach to compute semantic distance is through latent semantic analysis (LSA). However, objections have been raised against this approach, mainly in its failure at predicting semantic priming. We…

Does N200 reflect semantic processing?--An ERP study on Chinese visual word recognition.

PubMed

Du, Yingchun; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, John X

2014-01-01

Recent event-related potential research has reported a N200 response or a negative deflection peaking around 200 ms following the visual presentation of two-character Chinese words. This N200 shows amplitude enhancement upon immediate repetition and there has been preliminary evidence that it reflects orthographic processing but not semantic processing. The present study tested whether this N200 is indeed unrelated to semantic processing with more sensitive measures, including the use of two tasks engaging semantic processing either implicitly or explicitly and the adoption of a within-trial priming paradigm. In Exp. 1, participants viewed repeated, semantically related and unrelated prime-target word pairs as they performed a lexical decision task judging whether or not each target was a real word. In Exp. 2, participants viewed high-related, low-related and unrelated word pairs as they performed a semantic task judging whether each word pair was related in meaning. In both tasks, semantic priming was found from both the behavioral data and the N400 ERP responses. Critically, while repetition priming elicited a clear and large enhancement on the N200 response, semantic priming did not show any modulation effect on the same response. The results indicate that the N200 repetition enhancement effect cannot be explained with semantic priming and that this specific N200 response is unlikely to reflect semantic processing.

Cross-language parafoveal semantic processing: Evidence from Korean-Chinese bilinguals.

PubMed

Wang, Aiping; Yeon, Junmo; Zhou, Wei; Shu, Hua; Yan, Ming

2016-02-01

In the present study, we aimed at testing cross-language cognate and semantic preview effects. We tested how native Korean readers who learned Chinese as a second language make use of the parafoveal information during the reading of Chinese sentences. There were 3 types of Korean preview words: cognate translations of the Chinese target words, semantically related noncognate words, and unrelated words. Together with a highly significant cognate preview effect, more critically, we also observed reliable facilitation in processing of the target word from the semantically related previews in all fixation measures. Results from the present study provide first evidence for semantic processing from parafoveally presented Korean words and for cross-language parafoveal semantic processing.

Multiple Meanings Are Not Necessarily a Disadvantage in Semantic Processing: Evidence from Homophone Effects in Semantic Categorisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siakaluk, Paul D.; Pexman, Penny M.; Sears, Christopher R.; Owen, William J.

2007-01-01

The ambiguity disadvantage (slower processing of ambiguous words relative to unambiguous words) has been taken as evidence for a distributed semantic representational system like that embodied in parallel distributed processing (PDP) models. In the present study, we investigated whether semantic ambiguity slows meaning activation, as PDP models…

Levels of processing with free and cued recall and unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Lespinet-Najib, Véronique; N'Kaoua, Bernard; Sauzéon, Hélène; Bresson, Christel; Rougier, Alain; Claverie, Bernard

2004-04-01

This study investigates the role of the temporal lobes in levels-of-processing tasks (phonetic and semantic encoding) according to the nature of recall tasks (free and cued recall). These tasks were administered to 48 patients with unilateral temporal epilepsy (right "RTLE"=24; left "LTLE"=24) and a normal group (n=24). The results indicated that LTLE patients were impaired for semantic processing (free and cued recall) and for phonetic processing (free and cued recall), while for RTLE patients deficits appeared in free recall with semantic processing. It is suggested that the left temporal lobe is involved in all aspects of verbal memory, and that the right temporal lobe is specialized in semantic processing. Moreover, our data seem to indicate that RTLE patients present a retrieval processing impairment (semantic condition), whereas the LTLE group is characterized by encoding difficulties in the phonetic and semantic condition.

Lexical Processing in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Specific Language Impairment: The Role of Semantics.

PubMed

Haebig, Eileen; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Ellis Weismer, Susan

2015-12-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) often have immature lexical-semantic knowledge; however, the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge is poorly understood. This study examined lexical processing in school-age children with ASD, SLI, and typical development, who were matched on receptive vocabulary. Children completed a lexical decision task, involving words with high and low semantic network sizes and nonwords. Children also completed nonverbal updating and shifting tasks. Children responded more accurately to words from high than from low semantic networks; however, follow-up analyses identified weaker semantic network effects in the SLI group. Additionally, updating and shifting abilities predicted lexical processing, demonstrating similarity in the mechanisms which underlie semantic processing in children with ASD, SLI, and typical development.

Lexical Processing in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Specific Language Impairment: The Role of Semantics

PubMed Central

Haebig, Eileen; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Weismer, Susan Ellis

2016-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) often have immature lexical-semantic knowledge; however, the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge is poorly understood. This study examined lexical processing in school-age children with ASD, SLI, and typical development, who were matched on receptive vocabulary. Children completed a lexical decision task, involving words with high and low semantic network sizes and nonwords. Children also completed nonverbal updating and shifting tasks. Children responded more accurately to words from high than from low semantic networks; however, follow-up analyses identified weaker semantic network effects in the SLI group. Additionally, updating and shifting abilities predicted lexical processing, demonstrating similarity in the mechanisms which underlie semantic processing in children with ASD, SLI, and typical development. PMID:26210517

Integration of the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious.

PubMed

Epstein, S

1994-08-01

Cognitive-experiential self-theory integrates the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious by assuming the existence of two parallel, interacting modes of information processing: a rational system and an emotionally driven experiential system. Support for the theory is provided by the convergence of a wide variety of theoretical positions on two similar processing modes; by real-life phenomena--such as conflicts between the heart and the head; the appeal of concrete, imagistic, and narrative representations; superstitious thinking; and the ubiquity of religion throughout recorded history--and by laboratory research, including the prediction of new phenomena in heuristic reasoning.

Subliminal Affect Valence Words Change Conscious Mood Potency but Not Valence: Is This Evidence for Unconscious Valence Affect?

PubMed Central

Shevrin, Howard; Panksepp, Jaak; Brakel, Linda A. W.; Snodgrass, Michael

2012-01-01

Whether or not affect can be unconscious remains controversial. Research claiming to demonstrate unconscious affect fails to establish clearly unconscious stimulus conditions. The few investigations that have established unconscious conditions fail to rule out conscious affect changes. We report two studies in which unconscious stimulus conditions were met and conscious mood changes measured. The subliminal stimuli were positive and negative affect words presented at the objective detection threshold; conscious mood changes were measured with standard manikin valence, potency, and arousal scales. We found and replicated that unconscious emotional stimuli produced conscious mood changes on the potency scale but not on the valence scale. Were positive and negative affects aroused unconsciously, but reflected consciously in potency changes? Or were the valence words unconscious cognitive causes of conscious mood changes being activated without unconscious affect? A thought experiment is offered as a way to resolve this dilemma. PMID:24961258

Semantic Processing Impairment in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

PubMed Central

Jaimes-Bautista, Amanda G.; Rodríguez-Camacho, Mario; Martínez-Juárez, Iris E.; Rodríguez-Agudelo, Yaneth

2015-01-01

The impairment in episodic memory system is the best-known cognitive deficit in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Recent studies have shown evidence of semantic disorders, but they have been less studied than episodic memory. The semantic dysfunction in TLE has various cognitive manifestations, such as the presence of language disorders characterized by defects in naming, verbal fluency, or remote semantic information retrieval, which affects the ability of patients to interact with their surroundings. This paper is a review of recent research about the consequences of TLE on semantic processing, considering neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging findings, as well as the functional role of the hippocampus in semantic processing. The evidence from these studies shows disturbance of semantic memory in patients with TLE and supports the theory of declarative memory of the hippocampus. Functional neuroimaging studies show an inefficient compensatory functional reorganization of semantic networks and electrophysiological studies show a lack of N400 effect that could indicate that the deficit in semantic processing in patients with TLE could be due to a failure in the mechanisms of automatic access to lexicon. PMID:26257956

Differential electrophysiological signatures of semantic and syntactic scene processing.

PubMed

Võ, Melissa L-H; Wolfe, Jeremy M

2013-09-01

In sentence processing, semantic and syntactic violations elicit differential brain responses observable in event-related potentials: An N400 signals semantic violations, whereas a P600 marks inconsistent syntactic structure. Does the brain register similar distinctions in scene perception? To address this question, we presented participants with semantic inconsistencies, in which an object was incongruent with a scene's meaning, and syntactic inconsistencies, in which an object violated structural rules. We found a clear dissociation between semantic and syntactic processing: Semantic inconsistencies produced negative deflections in the N300-N400 time window, whereas mild syntactic inconsistencies elicited a late positivity resembling the P600 found for syntactic inconsistencies in sentence processing. Extreme syntactic violations, such as a hovering beer bottle defying gravity, were associated with earlier perceptual processing difficulties reflected in the N300 response, but failed to produce a P600 effect. We therefore conclude that different neural populations are active during semantic and syntactic processing of scenes, and that syntactically impossible object placements are processed in a categorically different manner than are syntactically resolvable object misplacements.

An individual differences approach to semantic cognition: Divergent effects of age on representation, retrieval and selection.

PubMed

Hoffman, Paul

2018-05-25

Semantic cognition refers to the appropriate use of acquired knowledge about the world. This requires representation of knowledge as well as control processes which ensure that currently-relevant aspects of knowledge are retrieved and selected. Although these abilities can be impaired selectively following brain damage, the relationship between them in healthy individuals is unclear. It is also commonly assumed that semantic cognition is preserved in later life, because older people have greater reserves of knowledge. However, this claim overlooks the possibility of decline in semantic control processes. Here, semantic cognition was assessed in 100 young and older adults. Despite having a broader knowledge base, older people showed specific impairments in semantic control, performing more poorly than young people when selecting among competing semantic representations. Conversely, they showed preserved controlled retrieval of less salient information from the semantic store. Breadth of semantic knowledge was positively correlated with controlled retrieval but was unrelated to semantic selection ability, which was instead correlated with non-semantic executive function. These findings indicate that three distinct elements contribute to semantic cognition: semantic representations that accumulate throughout the lifespan, processes for controlled retrieval of less salient semantic information, which appear age-invariant, and mechanisms for selecting task-relevant aspects of semantic knowledge, which decline with age and may relate more closely to domain-general executive control.

Modeling Unconscious Gender Bias in Fame Judgments: Finding the Proper Branch of the Correct (Multinomial) Tree

PubMed

Draine; Greenwald; Banaji

1996-03-01

In the preceding article, Buchner and Wippich used a guessing-corrected, multinomial process-dissociation analysis to test whether a gender bias in fame judgments reported by Banaji and Greenwald (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1995, 68, 181-198) was unconscious. In their two experiments, Buchner and Wippich found no evidence for unconscious mediation of this gender bias. Their conclusion can be questioned by noting that (a) the gender difference in familiarity of previously seen names that Buchner and Wippich modeled was different from the gender difference in criterion for fame judgments reported by Banaji and Greenwald, (b) the assumptions of Buchner and Wippich's multinomial model excluded processes that are plausibly involved in the fame judgment task, and (c) the constructs of Buchner and Wippich's model that corresponded most closely to Banaji and Greenwald's gender-bias interpretation were formulated so as to preclude the possibility of modeling that interpretation. Perhaps a more complex multinomial model can model the Banaji and Greenwald interpretation.

Playing chess unconsciously.

PubMed

Kiesel, Andrea; Kunde, Wilfried; Pohl, Carsten; Berner, Michael P; Hoffmann, Joachim

2009-01-01

Expertise in a certain stimulus domain enhances perceptual capabilities. In the present article, the authors investigate whether expertise improves perceptual processing to an extent that allows complex visual stimuli to bias behavior unconsciously. Expert chess players judged whether a target chess configuration entailed a checking configuration. These displays were preceded by masked prime configurations that either represented a checking or a nonchecking configuration. Chess experts, but not novice chess players, revealed a subliminal response priming effect, that is, faster responding when prime and target displays were congruent (both checking or both nonchecking) rather than incongruent. Priming generalized to displays that were not used as targets, ruling out simple repetition priming effects. Thus, chess experts were able to judge unconsciously presented chess configurations as checking or nonchecking. A 2nd experiment demonstrated that experts' priming does not occur for simpler but uncommon chess configurations. The authors conclude that long-term practice prompts the acquisition of visual memories of chess configurations with integrated form-location conjunctions. These perceptual chunks enable complex visual processing outside of conscious awareness.

Modeling unconscious gender bias in fame judgments: finding the proper branch of the correct (multinomial) tree.

PubMed

Draine, S C; Greenwald, A G; Banaji, M R

1996-01-01

In the preceding article, Buchner and Wippich used a guessing-corrected, multinomial process-dissociation analysis to test whether a gender bias in fame judgements reported by Banaji and Greenwald (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1995, 68, 181-198) was unconscious. In their two experiments, Buchner and Wippich found no evidence for unconscious mediation of this gender bias. Their conclusion can be questioned by noting that (a) the gender difference in familiarity of previously seen names that Buchner and Wippich modeled was different from the gender difference in criterion for fame judgements reported by Banaji and Greenwald, (b) the assumptions of Buchner and Wippich's multinomial model excluded processes that are plausibly involved in the fame judgement task, and (c) the constructs of Buchner and Wippich's model that corresponded most closely to Banaji and Greenwald's gender-bias interpretation were formulated so as to preclude the possibility of modeling that interpretation. Perhaps a more complex multinomial model can model the Banaji and Greenwald interpretation.

The role of unconscious memory errors in judgments of confidence for sentence recognition.

PubMed

Sampaio, Cristina; Brewer, William F

2009-03-01

The present experiment tested the hypothesis that unconscious reconstructive memory processing can lead to the breakdown of the relationship between memory confidence and memory accuracy. Participants heard deceptive schema-inference sentences and nondeceptive sentences and were tested with either simple or forced-choice recognition. The nondeceptive items showed a positive relation between confidence and accuracy in both simple and forced-choice recognition. However, the deceptive items showed a strong negative confidence/accuracy relationship in simple recognition and a low positive relationship in forced choice. The mean levels of confidence for erroneous responses for deceptive items were inappropriately high in simple recognition but lower in forced choice. These results suggest that unconscious reconstructive memory processes involved in memory for the deceptive schema-inference items led to inaccurate confidence judgments and that, when participants were made aware of the deceptive nature of the schema-inference items through the use of a forced-choice procedure, they adjusted their confidence accordingly.

Electrophysiological effects of semantic context in picture and word naming.

PubMed

Janssen, Niels; Carreiras, Manuel; Barber, Horacio A

2011-08-01

Recent language production studies have started to use electrophysiological measures to investigate the time course of word selection processes. An important contribution with respect to this issue comes from studies that have relied on an effect of semantic context in the semantic blocking task. Here we used this task to further establish the empirical pattern associated with the effect of semantic context, and whether the effect arises during output processing. Electrophysiological and reaction time measures were co-registered while participants overtly named picture and word stimuli in the semantic blocking task. The results revealed inhibitory reaction time effects of semantic context for both words and pictures, and a corresponding electrophysiological effect that could not be interpreted in terms of output processes. These data suggest that the electrophysiological effect of semantic context in the semantic blocking task does not reflect output processes, and therefore undermine an interpretation of this effect in terms of word selection. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks.

PubMed

Harvey, Denise Y; Schnur, Tatiana T

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system - lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks

PubMed Central

Harvey, Denise Y.; Schnur, Tatiana T.

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system – lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures. PMID:27242621

Conscious awareness is required for holistic face processing

PubMed Central

Axelrod, Vadim; Rees, Geraint

2014-01-01

Investigating the limits of unconscious processing is essential to understand the function of consciousness. Here, we explored whether holistic face processing, a mechanism believed to be important for face processing in general, can be accomplished unconsciously. Using a novel “eyes-face” stimulus we tested whether discrimination of pairs of eyes was influenced by the surrounding face context. While the eyes were fully visible, the faces that provided context could be rendered invisible through continuous flash suppression. Two experiments with three different sets of face stimuli and a subliminal learning procedure converged to show that invisible faces did not influence perception of visible eyes. In contrast, surrounding faces, when they were clearly visible, strongly influenced perception of the eyes. Thus, we conclude that conscious awareness might be a prerequisite for holistic face processing. PMID:24950500

An Investigation into Semantic and Phonological Processing in Individuals with Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Cheryl S.; Binder, Katherine S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The current study examined semantic and phonological processing in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS). Previous research in language processing in individuals with WS suggests a complex linguistic system characterized by "deviant" semantic organization and differential phonological processing. Method: Two experiments…

Semantic Processing of Mathematical Gestures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Vanessa K.; Wilson, Anna J.; Hamm, Jeff P.; Phillips, Nicola; Iwabuchi, Sarina J.; Corballis, Michael C.; Arzarello, Ferdinando; Thomas, Michael O. J.

2009-01-01

Objective: To examine whether or not university mathematics students semantically process gestures depicting mathematical functions (mathematical gestures) similarly to the way they process action gestures and sentences. Semantic processing was indexed by the N400 effect. Results: The N400 effect elicited by words primed with mathematical gestures…

A pool of pairs of related objects (POPORO) for investigating visual semantic integration: behavioral and electrophysiological validation.

PubMed

Kovalenko, Lyudmyla Y; Chaumon, Maximilien; Busch, Niko A

2012-07-01

Semantic processing of verbal and visual stimuli has been investigated in semantic violation or semantic priming paradigms in which a stimulus is either related or unrelated to a previously established semantic context. A hallmark of semantic priming is the N400 event-related potential (ERP)--a deflection of the ERP that is more negative for semantically unrelated target stimuli. The majority of studies investigating the N400 and semantic integration have used verbal material (words or sentences), and standardized stimulus sets with norms for semantic relatedness have been published for verbal but not for visual material. However, semantic processing of visual objects (as opposed to words) is an important issue in research on visual cognition. In this study, we present a set of 800 pairs of semantically related and unrelated visual objects. The images were rated for semantic relatedness by a sample of 132 participants. Furthermore, we analyzed low-level image properties and matched the two semantic categories according to these features. An ERP study confirmed the suitability of this image set for evoking a robust N400 effect of semantic integration. Additionally, using a general linear modeling approach of single-trial data, we also demonstrate that low-level visual image properties and semantic relatedness are in fact only minimally overlapping. The image set is available for download from the authors' website. We expect that the image set will facilitate studies investigating mechanisms of semantic and contextual processing of visual stimuli.

Neural correlates of combinatorial semantic processing of literal and figurative noun noun compound words.

PubMed

Forgács, Bálint; Bohrn, Isabel; Baudewig, Jürgen; Hofmann, Markus J; Pléh, Csaba; Jacobs, Arthur M

2012-11-15

The right hemisphere's role in language comprehension is supported by results from several neuropsychology and neuroimaging studies. Special interest surrounds right temporoparietal structures, which are thought to be involved in processing novel metaphorical expressions, primarily due to the coarse semantic coding of concepts. In this event related fMRI experiment we aimed at assessing the extent of semantic distance processing in the comprehension of figurative meaning to clarify the role of the right hemisphere. Four categories of German noun noun compound words were presented in a semantic decision task: a) conventional metaphors; b) novel metaphors; c) conventional literal, and; d) novel literal expressions, controlled for length, frequency, imageability, arousal, and emotional valence. Conventional literal and metaphorical compounds increased BOLD signal change in right temporoparietal regions, suggesting combinatorial semantic processing, in line with the coarse semantic coding theory, but at odds with the graded salience hypothesis. Both novel literal and novel metaphorical expressions increased activity in left inferior frontal areas, presumably as a result of phonetic, morphosyntactic, and semantic unification processes, challenging predictions regarding right hemispheric involvement in processing unusual meanings. Meanwhile, both conventional and novel metaphorical expressions induced BOLD signal change in left hemispherical regions, suggesting that even novel metaphor processing involves more than linking semantically distant concepts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Won't Get Fooled Again: An Event-Related Potential Study of Task and Repetition Effects on the Semantic Processing of Items without Semantics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laszlo, Sarah; Stites, Mallory; Federmeier, Kara D.

2012-01-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that semantic access is obligatory. Several studies have demonstrated that brain activity associated with semantic processing, measured in the N400 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP), is elicited even by meaningless, orthographically illegal strings, suggesting that semantic access is not gated…

Semantic Processing Persists despite Anomalous Syntactic Category: ERP Evidence from Chinese Passive Sentences.

PubMed

Yang, Yang; Wu, Fuyun; Zhou, Xiaolin

2015-01-01

The syntax-first model and the parallel/interactive models make different predictions regarding whether syntactic category processing has a temporal and functional primacy over semantic processing. To further resolve this issue, an event-related potential experiment was conducted on 24 Chinese speakers reading Chinese passive sentences with the passive marker BEI (NP1 + BEI + NP2 + Verb). This construction was selected because it is the most-commonly used Chinese passive and very much resembles German passives, upon which the syntax-first hypothesis was primarily based. We manipulated semantic consistency (consistent vs. inconsistent) and syntactic category (noun vs. verb) of the critical verb, yielding four conditions: CORRECT (correct sentences), SEMANTIC (semantic anomaly), SYNTACTIC (syntactic category anomaly), and COMBINED (combined anomalies). Results showed both N400 and P600 effects for sentences with semantic anomaly, with syntactic category anomaly, or with combined anomalies. Converging with recent findings of Chinese ERP studies on various constructions, our study provides further evidence that syntactic category processing does not precede semantic processing in reading Chinese.

Influences of motor contexts on the semantic processing of action-related language.

PubMed

Yang, Jie

2014-09-01

The contribution of the sensory-motor system to the semantic processing of language stimuli is still controversial. To address the issue, the present article focuses on the impact of motor contexts (i.e., comprehenders' motor behaviors, motor-training experiences, and motor expertise) on the semantic processing of action-related language and reviews the relevant behavioral and neuroimaging findings. The existing evidence shows that although motor contexts can influence the semantic processing of action-related concepts, the mechanism of the contextual influences is still far from clear. Future investigations will be needed to clarify (1) whether motor contexts only modulate activity in motor regions, (2) whether the contextual influences are specific to the semantic features of language stimuli, and (3) what factors can determine the facilitatory or inhibitory contextual influences on the semantic processing of action-related language.

Unconscious phantasy as a structural principle and organizer of mental life: The evolution of a concept from Freud to Klein and some of her successors.

PubMed

Weiss, Heinz

2017-06-01

Starting with Freud's discovery of unconscious phantasy as a means of accessing his patients' internal world, the author discusses the evolution of the concept in the work of Melanie Klein and some of her successors. Whereas Freud sees phantasy as a wish fulfilling imagination, dominated by primary process functioning and kept apart from reality testing, Klein understands phantasies as a structural function and organizer of mental life. From their very beginnings they involve object relations and gradually evolve from primitive body-near experiences to images and symbolic representations. With her concept of projective identification in particular, Klein anticipates the communicative function of unconscious phantasies. They are at the basis of processes of symbolization, but may also be put into the service of complex defensive operations. The author traces the further evolution of the concept from the contributions of S. Isaacs, the theories of thinking proposed by W.R. Bion and R. Money-Kyrle, Hanna Segal's ideas on symbolization and reparation all the way to the latest approaches by R. Britton, J. Steiner and others, including the understanding of transference and counter-transference as a 'total situation'. Points of contact with Freud are to be found particularly in connection with his concept of 'primal phantasies'. In the author's view, the idea of the transmission and communicative potential of unconscious phantasies enabled these authors to overcome the solipsistic origins of drive theory in favour of a notion in which unconscious phantasies both set down the coordinates of the inner world and form and reflect the matrix of inter-subjective relations. Copyright © 2017 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Creativity and Quantum Physics: a New World View Unifying Current Theories of Creativity and Pointing Toward New Research Methodologies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCarthy, Kimberly Ann

1990-01-01

Divisions in definitions of creativity have centered primarily on the working definition of discontinuity and the inclusion of intrinsic features such as unconscious processing and intrinsic motivation and reinforcement. These differences generally result from Cohen's two world views underlying theories of creativity: Organismic, oriented toward holism; or mechanistic, oriented toward cause-effect reductionism. The quantum world view is proposed which theoretically and empirically unifies organismic and mechanistic elements of creativity. Based on Goswami's Idealistic Interpretation of quantum physics, the quantum view postulates the mind -brain as consisting of both classical and quantum structures and functions. The quantum domain accesses the transcendent order through coherent superpositions (a state of potentialities), while the classical domain performs the function of measuring apparatus through amplifying and recording the result of the collapse of the pure mental state. A theoretical experiment, based on the 1980 Marcel study of conscious and unconscious word-sense disambiguation, is conducted which compares the predictions of the quantum model with those of the 1975 Posner and Snyder Facilitation and Inhibition model. Each model agrees that while conscious access to information is limited, unconscious access is unlimited. However, each model differently defines the connection between these states: The Posner model postulates a central processing mechanism while the quantum model postulates a self-referential consciousness. Consequently, the two models predict differently. The strength of the quantum model lies in its ability to distinguish between classical and quantum definitions of discontinuity, as well as clarifying the function of consciousness, without added assumptions or ad-hoc analysis: Consciousness is an essential, valid feature of quantum mechanisms independent of the field of cognitive psychology. According to the quantum model, through a cycle of conscious and unconscious processing, various contexts are accessed, specifically, coherent superposition states and the removal of the subject-object dichotomy in unconscious processing. Coupled with a high tolerance for ambiguity, the individual has access not only to an increased quantity of information, but is exposed to this information in the absence of a self-referential or biased context, the result of which is an increase in creative behavior.

Mimicking aphasic semantic errors in normal speech production: evidence from a novel experimental paradigm.

PubMed

Hodgson, Catherine; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A

2008-01-01

Semantic errors are commonly found in semantic dementia (SD) and some forms of stroke aphasia and provide insights into semantic processing and speech production. Low error rates are found in standard picture naming tasks in normal controls. In order to increase error rates and thus provide an experimental model of aphasic performance, this study utilised a novel method- tempo picture naming. Experiment 1 showed that, compared to standard deadline naming tasks, participants made more errors on the tempo picture naming tasks. Further, RTs were longer and more errors were produced to living items than non-living items a pattern seen in both semantic dementia and semantically-impaired stroke aphasic patients. Experiment 2 showed that providing the initial phoneme as a cue enhanced performance whereas providing an incorrect phonemic cue further reduced performance. These results support the contention that the tempo picture naming paradigm reduces the time allowed for controlled semantic processing causing increased error rates. This experimental procedure would, therefore, appear to mimic the performance of aphasic patients with multi-modal semantic impairment that results from poor semantic control rather than the degradation of semantic representations observed in semantic dementia [Jefferies, E. A., & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2006). Semantic impairment in stoke aphasia vs. semantic dementia: A case-series comparison. Brain, 129, 2132-2147]. Further implications for theories of semantic cognition and models of speech processing are discussed.

Semantic encoding and retrieval in the left inferior prefrontal cortex: a functional MRI study of task difficulty and process specificity.

PubMed

Demb, J B; Desmond, J E; Wagner, A D; Vaidya, C J; Glover, G H; Gabrieli, J D

1995-09-01

Prefrontal cortical function was examined during semantic encoding and repetition priming using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a noninvasive technique for localizing regional changes in blood oxygenation, a correlate of neural activity. Words studied in a semantic (deep) encoding condition were better remembered than words studied in both easier and more difficult nonsemantic (shallow) encoding conditions, with difficulty indexed by response time. The left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPC) (Brodmann's areas 45, 46, 47) showed increased activation during semantic encoding relative to nonsemantic encoding regardless of the relative difficulty of the nonsemantic encoding task. Therefore, LIPC activation appears to be related to semantic encoding and not task difficulty. Semantic encoding decisions are performed faster the second time words are presented. This represents semantic repetition priming, a facilitation in semantic processing for previously encoded words that is not dependent on intentional recollection. The same LIPC area activated during semantic encoding showed decreased activation during repeated semantic encoding relative to initial semantic encoding of the same words. This decrease in activation during repeated encoding was process specific; it occurred when words were semantically reprocessed but not when words were nonsemantically reprocessed. The results were apparent in both individual and averaged functional maps. These findings suggest that the LIPC is part of a semantic executive system that contributes to the on-line retrieval of semantic information.

Neural synchronization as a hypothetical explanation of the psychoanalytic unconscious.

PubMed

Ceylan, Mehmet Emin; Dönmez, Aslıhan; Ünsalver, Barış Önen; Evrensel, Alper

2016-02-01

Cognitive scientists have tried to explain the neural mechanisms of unconscious mental states such as coma, epileptic seizures, and anesthesia-induced unconsciousness. However these types of unconscious states are different from the psychoanalytic unconscious. In this review, we aim to present our hypothesis about the neural correlates underlying psychoanalytic unconscious. To fulfill this aim, we firstly review the previous explanations about the neural correlates of conscious and unconscious mental states, such as brain oscillations, synchronicity of neural networks, and cognitive binding. By doing so, we hope to lay a neuroscientific ground for our hypothesis about neural correlates of psychoanalytic unconscious; parallel but unsynchronized neural networks between different layers of consciousness and unconsciousness. Next, we propose a neuroscientific mechanism about how the repressed mental events reach the conscious awareness; the lock of neural synchronization between two mental layers of conscious and unconscious. At the last section, we will discuss the data about schizophrenia as a clinical example of our proposed hypothesis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of Simple Semantics in the Process of Artificial Grammar Learning.

PubMed

Öttl, Birgit; Jäger, Gerhard; Kaup, Barbara

2017-10-01

This study investigated the effect of semantic information on artificial grammar learning (AGL). Recursive grammars of different complexity levels (regular language, mirror language, copy language) were investigated in a series of AGL experiments. In the with-semantics condition, participants acquired semantic information prior to the AGL experiment; in the without-semantics control condition, participants did not receive semantic information. It was hypothesized that semantics would generally facilitate grammar acquisition and that the learning benefit in the with-semantics conditions would increase with increasing grammar complexity. Experiment 1 showed learning effects for all grammars but no performance difference between conditions. Experiment 2 replicated the absence of a semantic benefit for all grammars even though semantic information was more prominent during grammar acquisition as compared to Experiment 1. Thus, we did not find evidence for the idea that semantics facilitates grammar acquisition, which seems to support the view of an independent syntactic processing component.

Effects of donepezil on verbal memory after semantic processing in healthy older adults.

PubMed

FitzGerald, David B; Crucian, Gregory P; Mielke, Jeannine B; Shenal, Brian V; Burks, David; Womack, Kyle B; Ghacibeh, Georges; Drago, Valeria; Foster, Paul S; Valenstein, Edward; Heilman, Kenneth M

2008-06-01

To learn if acetylcholinesterase inhibitors alter verbal recall by improving semantic encoding in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. Cholinergic supplementation has been shown to improve delayed recall in adults with Alzheimer disease. With functional magnetic resonance imaging, elderly adults, when compared with younger participants, have reduced cortical activation with semantic processing. There have been no studies investigating the effects of cholinergic supplementation on semantic encoding in healthy elderly adults. Twenty elderly participants (mean age 71.5, SD+/-5.2) were recruited. All underwent memory testing before and after receiving donepezil (5 mg, n=11 or 10 mg, n=1) or placebo (n=8) for 6 weeks. Memory was tested using a Levels of Processing task, where a series of words are presented serially. Subjects were either asked to count consonants in a word (superficially process) or decide if the word was "pleasant" or "unpleasant" (semantically process). After 6 weeks of donepezil or placebo treatment, immediate and delayed recall of superficially and semantically processed words was compared with baseline performance. Immediate and delayed recall of superficially processed words did not show significant changes in either treatment group. With semantic processing, both immediate and delayed recall performance improved in the donepezil group. Our results suggest that when using semantic encoding, older normal subjects may be aided by anticholinesterase treatment. However, this treatment does not improve recall of superficially encoded words.

Lexical and sublexical semantic preview benefits in Chinese reading.

PubMed

Yan, Ming; Zhou, Wei; Shu, Hua; Kliegl, Reinhold

2012-07-01

Semantic processing from parafoveal words is an elusive phenomenon in alphabetic languages, but it has been demonstrated only for a restricted set of noncompound Chinese characters. Using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm, this experiment examined whether parafoveal lexical and sublexical semantic information was extracted from compound preview characters. Results generalized parafoveal semantic processing to this representative set of Chinese characters and extended the parafoveal processing to radical (sublexical) level semantic information extraction. Implications for notions of parafoveal information extraction during Chinese reading are discussed. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Evaluating the Role of Attention in the Context of Unconscious Thought Theory: Differential Impact of Attentional Scope and Load on Preference and Memory

PubMed Central

Srinivasan, Narayanan; Mukherjee, Sumitava; Mishra, Maruti V.; Kesarwani, Smriti

2013-01-01

Attention is a key process used to conceptualize and define modes of thought, but we lack information about the role of specific attentional processes on preferential choice and memory in multi-attribute decision making. In this study, we examine the role of attention based on two dimensions, attentional scope and load on choice preference strength and memory using a paradigm that arguably elicits unconscious thought. Scope of attention was manipulated by using global or local processing during distraction (Experiment 1) and before the information-encoding stage (Experiment 2). Load was manipulated by using the n-back task in Experiment 1. Results from Experiment 1 show that global processing or distributed attention during distraction results in stronger preference irrespective of load but better memory only at low cognitive load. Task difficulty or load did not have any effect on preference or memory. In Experiment 2, distributed attention before attribute encoding facilitated only memory but did not influence preference. Results show that attentional processes at different stages of processing like distraction and information-encoding influence decision making processes. Scope of attention not only influences preference and memory but the manner in which attentional scope influences them depends on both load and stage of information processing. The results indicate the important role of attention in processes critical for decision making and calls for a re-evaluation of the unconscious thought theory (UTT) and the need for reconceptualizing the role of attention. PMID:23382726

Evaluating the role of attention in the context of unconscious thought theory: differential impact of attentional scope and load on preference and memory.

PubMed

Srinivasan, Narayanan; Mukherjee, Sumitava; Mishra, Maruti V; Kesarwani, Smriti

2013-01-01

Attention is a key process used to conceptualize and define modes of thought, but we lack information about the role of specific attentional processes on preferential choice and memory in multi-attribute decision making. In this study, we examine the role of attention based on two dimensions, attentional scope and load on choice preference strength and memory using a paradigm that arguably elicits unconscious thought. Scope of attention was manipulated by using global or local processing during distraction (Experiment 1) and before the information-encoding stage (Experiment 2). Load was manipulated by using the n-back task in Experiment 1. Results from Experiment 1 show that global processing or distributed attention during distraction results in stronger preference irrespective of load but better memory only at low cognitive load. Task difficulty or load did not have any effect on preference or memory. In Experiment 2, distributed attention before attribute encoding facilitated only memory but did not influence preference. Results show that attentional processes at different stages of processing like distraction and information-encoding influence decision making processes. Scope of attention not only influences preference and memory but the manner in which attentional scope influences them depends on both load and stage of information processing. The results indicate the important role of attention in processes critical for decision making and calls for a re-evaluation of the unconscious thought theory (UTT) and the need for reconceptualizing the role of attention.

Working memory and semantic involvement in sentence processing: a case of pure progressive amnesia.

PubMed

Fossard, Marion; Rigalleau, François; Puel, Michèle; Nespoulous, Jean-Luc; Viallard, Gérard; Démonet, Jean-François; Cardebat, Dominique

2006-01-01

ED, a 83-year-old woman, meets the criteria of pure progressive amnesia, with gradual impairment of episodic and autobiographical memory, sparing of semantic processing and strong working memory (WM) deficit. The dissociation between disturbed WM and spared semantic processing permitted testing the role of WM in processing anaphors like pronouns or repeated names. Results showed a globally normal anaphoric behavior in two experiments requiring anaphoric processing in sentence production and comprehension. We suggest that preserved semantic processing in ED would have compensated for working memory deficit in anaphoric processing.

Visual and semantic processing of living things and artifacts: an FMRI study.

PubMed

Zannino, Gian Daniele; Buccione, Ivana; Perri, Roberta; Macaluso, Emiliano; Lo Gerfo, Emanuele; Caltagirone, Carlo; Carlesimo, Giovanni A

2010-03-01

We carried out an fMRI study with a twofold purpose: to investigate the relationship between networks dedicated to semantic and visual processing and to address the issue of whether semantic memory is subserved by a unique network or by different subsystems, according to semantic category or feature type. To achieve our goals, we administered a word-picture matching task, with within-category foils, to 15 healthy subjects during scanning. Semantic distance between the target and the foil and semantic domain of the target-foil pairs were varied orthogonally. Our results suggest that an amodal, undifferentiated network for the semantic processing of living things and artifacts is located in the anterolateral aspects of the temporal lobes; in fact, activity in this substrate was driven by semantic distance, not by semantic category. By contrast, activity in ventral occipito-temporal cortex was driven by category, not by semantic distance. We interpret the latter finding as the effect exerted by systematic differences between living things and artifacts at the level of their structural representations and possibly of their lower-level visual features. Finally, we attempt to reconcile contrasting data in the neuropsychological and functional imaging literature on semantic substrate and category specificity.

An essay on dreaming, psychical working out and working through.

PubMed

da Rocha Barros, Elias M

2002-10-01

In this paper the author attempts to expand the idea put forward by Freud who considered dreams as a special form of unconscious thinking. It is the author's contention that the psychical working-out function performed by dreams is a form of unconscious thinking, which transforms affects into memories and mental structures. He also attempts to clarify the way in which meaning is built and transformed in mental life. In that respect the unconscious internal world is seen as a form of unconscious thinking, a private theatre where meaning is generated and transformed. He focuses on what happens to feelings in dreams in connection with the meanings as a result of and an expression of the several stages of working through. The dream world is described as the setting where the mind gives expressive pictorial representation to the emotions involved in a conflict: a first step towards thinkability. The dreamwork also constitutes a process through which meaning is apprehended, built on and transformed at an expressive non-discursive level, based on representation through figurative/pictorial images. The author draws on Meltzer's formulation to conjecture that the working-through function of dreams, mainly in response to interpretations, is performed by a process of progression in formal qualities of the representations made available by dreaming in the form he has called affective pictograms. It is through progression in formal qualities of the representation that the thinking capabilities of the affective life develop and become part of the process of what is called metaphorically the metabolisation of emotional life. This process takes place through migration of meaning across various levels of mental process. In this perspective the analyst's interpretations of dreams effect what linguists call transmutation of the symbolic basis, a process that is necessary to help the mind to improve its capacity to think. Something expressed on the evocative plane and condensed into a pictographic image is then transformed into verbal language that expresses meaning. These conceptions are illustrated by a detailed clinical case.

Semantic processing of EHR data for clinical research.

PubMed

Sun, Hong; Depraetere, Kristof; De Roo, Jos; Mels, Giovanni; De Vloed, Boris; Twagirumukiza, Marc; Colaert, Dirk

2015-12-01

There is a growing need to semantically process and integrate clinical data from different sources for clinical research. This paper presents an approach to integrate EHRs from heterogeneous resources and generate integrated data in different data formats or semantics to support various clinical research applications. The proposed approach builds semantic data virtualization layers on top of data sources, which generate data in the requested semantics or formats on demand. This approach avoids upfront dumping to and synchronizing of the data with various representations. Data from different EHR systems are first mapped to RDF data with source semantics, and then converted to representations with harmonized domain semantics where domain ontologies and terminologies are used to improve reusability. It is also possible to further convert data to application semantics and store the converted results in clinical research databases, e.g. i2b2, OMOP, to support different clinical research settings. Semantic conversions between different representations are explicitly expressed using N3 rules and executed by an N3 Reasoner (EYE), which can also generate proofs of the conversion processes. The solution presented in this paper has been applied to real-world applications that process large scale EHR data. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Out of the Corner of My Eye: Foveal Semantic Load Modulates Parafoveal Processing in Reading.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Payne, Brennan R.; Stites, Mallory C.; Federmeier, Kara D.

In two experiments, we examined the impact of foveal semantic expectancy and congruity on parafoveal word processing during reading. Experiment 1 utilized an eye-tracking gaze contingent display change paradigm, and Experiment 2 measured event-related brain potentials (ERP) in a modified RSVP paradigm to track the time-course of foveal semantic influences on convert attentional allocation to parafoveal word processing. Furthermore, eye-tracking and ERP data converged to reveal graded effects of semantic foveal load on parafoveal processing.

Out of the Corner of My Eye: Foveal Semantic Load Modulates Parafoveal Processing in Reading.

DOE PAGES

Payne, Brennan R.; Stites, Mallory C.; Federmeier, Kara D.

2016-07-18

In two experiments, we examined the impact of foveal semantic expectancy and congruity on parafoveal word processing during reading. Experiment 1 utilized an eye-tracking gaze contingent display change paradigm, and Experiment 2 measured event-related brain potentials (ERP) in a modified RSVP paradigm to track the time-course of foveal semantic influences on convert attentional allocation to parafoveal word processing. Furthermore, eye-tracking and ERP data converged to reveal graded effects of semantic foveal load on parafoveal processing.

Unconscious Affective Responses to Food

PubMed Central

Sato, Wataru; Sawada, Reiko; Kubota, Yasutaka; Toichi, Motomi; Fushiki, Tohru

2016-01-01

Affective or hedonic responses to food are crucial for humans, both advantageously (e.g., enhancing survival) and disadvantageously (e.g., promoting overeating and lifestyle-related disease). Although previous psychological studies have reported evidence of unconscious cognitive and behavioral processing related to food, it remains unknown whether affective reactions to food can be triggered unconsciously and its relationship with daily eating behaviors. We investigated these issues by using the subliminal affective priming paradigm. Photographs of food or corresponding mosaic images were presented in the peripheral visual field for 33 ms. Target photos of faces with emotionally neutral expressions were then presented, and participants rated their preferences for the faces. Eating behaviors were also assessed using questionnaires. The food images, relative to the mosaics, increased participants’ preference for subsequent target faces. Furthermore, the difference in the preference induced by food versus mosaic images was positively correlated with the tendency to engage in external eating. These results suggest that unconscious affective reactions are elicited by the sight of food and that these responses contribute to daily eating behaviors related to overeating. PMID:27501443

Differential interference effects of negative emotional states on subsequent semantic and perceptual processing

PubMed Central

Gorlick, Marissa A.; Mather, Mara

2012-01-01

Past studies have revealed that encountering negative events interferes with cognitive processing of subsequent stimuli. The present study investigated whether negative events affect semantic and perceptual processing differently. Presentation of negative pictures produced slower reaction times than neutral or positive pictures in tasks that require semantic processing, such as natural/man-made judgments about drawings of objects, commonness judgments about objects, and categorical judgments about pairs of words. In contrast, negative picture presentation did not slow down judgments in subsequent perceptual processing (e.g., color judgments about words, and size judgments about objects). The subjective arousal level of negative pictures did not modulate the interference effects on semantic/perceptual processing. These findings indicate that encountering negative emotional events interferes with semantic processing of subsequent stimuli more strongly than perceptual processing, and that not all types of subsequent cognitive processing are impaired by negative events. PMID:22142207

Differential interference effects of negative emotional states on subsequent semantic and perceptual processing.

PubMed

Sakaki, Michiko; Gorlick, Marissa A; Mather, Mara

2011-12-01

Past studies have revealed that encountering negative events interferes with cognitive processing of subsequent stimuli. The present study investigates whether negative events affect semantic and perceptual processing differently. Presentation of negative pictures produced slower reaction times than neutral or positive pictures in tasks that require semantic processing, such as natural or man-made judgments about drawings of objects, commonness judgments about objects, and categorical judgments about pairs of words. In contrast, negative picture presentation did not slow down judgments in subsequent perceptual processing (e.g., color judgments about words, size judgments about objects). The subjective arousal level of negative pictures did not modulate the interference effects on semantic or perceptual processing. These findings indicate that encountering negative emotional events interferes with semantic processing of subsequent stimuli more strongly than perceptual processing, and that not all types of subsequent cognitive processing are impaired by negative events. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Affective indicators of the psychotherapeutic process: an empirical case study.

PubMed

Dreher, M; Mengele, U; Krause, R; Kämmerer, A

2001-03-01

By analyzing facial expressions of emotion and the emotional experience of a patient and a psychotherapist, we attempted to objectively register unconscious interaction processes that could have contributed to the failure of a psychotherapy that ended prematurely. In this connection, the affect 'contempt' played a particular role. It is made clear how an unconscious enactment results in a gap between emotional expression and experience. In addition, the countertransference of the psychotherapist is examined and the emotional experience is contrasted with her affective behavior. In this study, it is demonstrated how this particular psychotherapy failed due to a lack of acknowledging the involvement of the interactive dynamics.

Intelligence as it relates to conscious and unconscious memory influences.

PubMed

Joordens, Steve; Walsh, Darlene; Mantonakis, Antonia

2013-09-01

We examine the relationship between a measure of intelligence and estimates of conscious and unconscious memory influences derived using Jacoby's (Jacoby, L. L. [1991]. A process dissociation framework: Separating automatic from intentional uses of memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 513-541.) process-dissociation procedure. We find a positive relationship between intelligence and conscious memory, and no relationship between intelligence and unconscious influences once the impact of conscious influences are removed (Experiment 1). We also find that when participants cannot engage in conscious strategies, such as when there is insufficient time for learning, the relationships observed in Experiment 1 are eliminated (Experiments 2A and 2B). Our results support the notion that individual differences in intelligence reflect differences in conscious strategic processes (Karis, D., Fabiani, M., & Donchin, E. [1984]. "P300" and memory: Individual differences in the von Restorff effect. Cognitive Psychology, 16, 177-216.) and not differences in mental speed (Eysenck, H. J. (1984). Intelligence versus behavior. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7, 290-291; Jensen, A. R. [1982]. Bias in mental testing. New York, NY: Free Press). PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Time course of influence on the allocation of attentional resources caused by unconscious fearful faces.

PubMed

Jiang, Yunpeng; Wu, Xia; Saab, Rami; Xiao, Yi; Gao, Xiaorong

2018-05-01

Emotionally affective stimuli have priority in our visual processing even in the absence of conscious processing. However, the influence of unconscious emotional stimuli on our attentional resources remains unclear. Using the continuous flash suppression (CFS) paradigm, we concurrently recorded and analyzed visual event-related potential (ERP) components evoked by the images of suppressed fearful and neutral faces, and the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) elicited by dynamic Mondrian pictures. Fearful faces, relative to neutral faces, elicited larger late ERP components on parietal electrodes, indicating emotional expression processing without consciousness. More importantly, the presentation of a suppressed fearful face in the CFS resulted in a significantly greater decrease in SSVEP amplitude which started about 1-1.2 s after the face images first appeared. This suggests that the time course of the attentional bias occurs at about 1 s after the appearance of the fearful face and demonstrates that unconscious fearful faces may influence attentional resource allocation. Moreover, we proposed a new method that could eliminate the interaction of ERPs and SSVEPs when recorded concurrently. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Semantic Transparency on the Processing of Morphologically Derived Words: Evidence from Decision Latencies and Event-Related Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jared, Debra; Jouravlev, Olessia; Joanisse, Marc F.

2017-01-01

Decomposition theories of morphological processing in visual word recognition posit an early morpho-orthographic parser that is blind to semantic information, whereas parallel distributed processing (PDP) theories assume that the transparency of orthographic-semantic relationships influences processing from the beginning. To test these…

The Unconscious Mind

PubMed Central

Bargh, John A.; Morsella, Ezequiel

2008-01-01

The unconscious mind is still viewed by many psychological scientists as the shadow of a “real” conscious mind, though there now exists substantial evidence that the unconscious is not identifiably less flexible, complex, controlling, deliberative, or action-oriented than is its counterpart. This “conscious-centric” bias is due in part to the operational definition within cognitive psychology that equates unconscious with subliminal. We review the evidence challenging this restricted view of the unconscious emerging from contemporary social cognition research, which has traditionally defined the unconscious in terms of its unintentional nature; this research has demonstrated the existence of several independent unconscious behavioral guidance systems: perceptual, evaluative, and motivational. From this perspective, it is concluded that in both phylogeny and ontogeny, actions of an unconscious mind precede the arrival of a conscious mind—that action precedes reflection. PMID:18584056

Suggestion-Induced Modulation of Semantic Priming during Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PubMed Central

Ulrich, Martin; Kiefer, Markus; Bongartz, Walter; Grön, Georg; Hoenig, Klaus

2015-01-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a primed visual lexical decision task, we investigated the neural and functional mechanisms underlying modulations of semantic word processing through hypnotic suggestions aimed at altering lexical processing of primes. The priming task was to discriminate between target words and pseudowords presented 200 ms after the prime word which was semantically related or unrelated to the target. In a counterbalanced study design, each participant performed the task once at normal wakefulness and once after the administration of hypnotic suggestions to perceive the prime as a meaningless symbol of a foreign language. Neural correlates of priming were defined as significantly lower activations upon semantically related compared to unrelated trials. We found significant suggestive treatment-induced reductions in neural priming, albeit irrespective of the degree of suggestibility. Neural priming was attenuated upon suggestive treatment compared with normal wakefulness in brain regions supporting automatic (fusiform gyrus) and controlled semantic processing (superior and middle temporal gyri, pre- and postcentral gyri, and supplementary motor area). Hence, suggestions reduced semantic word processing by conjointly dampening both automatic and strategic semantic processes. PMID:25923740

[Effects of punctuation on the processing of syntactically ambiguous Japanese sentences with a semantic bias].

PubMed

Niikuni, Keiyu; Muramoto, Toshiaki

2014-06-01

This study explored the effects of a comma on the processing of structurally ambiguous Japanese sentences with a semantic bias. A previous study has shown that a comma which is incompatible with an ambiguous sentence's semantic bias affects the processing of the sentence, but the effects of a comma that is compatible with the bias are unclear. In the present study, we examined the role of a comma compatible with the sentence's semantic bias using the self-paced reading method, which enabled us to determine the reading times for the region of the sentence where readers would be expected to solve the ambiguity using semantic information (the "target region"). The results show that a comma significantly increases the reading time of the punctuated word but decreases the reading time in the target region. We concluded that even if the semantic information provided might be sufficient for disambiguation, the insertion of a comma would affect the processing cost of the ambiguity, indicating that readers use both the comma and semantic information in parallel for sentence processing.

How "mere" is the mere ownership effect in memory? Evidence for semantic organization processes.

PubMed

Englert, Julia; Wentura, Dirk

2016-11-01

Memory is better for items arbitrarily assigned to the self than for items assigned to another person (mere ownership effect, MOE). In a series of six experiments, we investigated the role of semantic processes for the MOE. Following successful replication, we investigated whether the MOE was contingent upon semantic processing: For meaningless stimuli, there was no MOE. Testing for a potential role of semantic elaboration using meaningful stimuli in an encoding task without verbal labels, we found evidence of spontaneous semantic processing irrespective of self- or other-assignment. When semantic organization was manipulated, the MOE vanished if a semantic classification task was added to the self/other assignment but persisted for a perceptual classification task. Furthermore, we found greater clustering of self-assigned than of other-assigned items in free recall. Taken together, these results suggest that the MOE could be based on the organizational principle of a "me" versus "not-me" categorization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural changes associated with semantic processing in healthy aging despite intact behavioral performance.

PubMed

Lacombe, Jacinthe; Jolicoeur, Pierre; Grimault, Stephan; Pineault, Jessica; Joubert, Sven

2015-10-01

Semantic memory recruits an extensive neural network including the left inferior prefrontal cortex (IPC) and the left temporoparietal region, which are involved in semantic control processes, as well as the anterior temporal lobe region (ATL) which is considered to be involved in processing semantic information at a central level. However, little is known about the underlying neuronal integrity of the semantic network in normal aging. Young and older healthy adults carried out a semantic judgment task while their cortical activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Despite equivalent behavioral performance, young adults activated the left IPC to a greater extent than older adults, while the latter group recruited the temporoparietal region bilaterally and the left ATL to a greater extent than younger adults. Results indicate that significant neuronal changes occur in normal aging, mainly in regions underlying semantic control processes, despite an apparent stability in performance at the behavioral level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Visual discrimination predicts naming and semantic association accuracy in Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Harnish, Stacy M; Neils-Strunjas, Jean; Eliassen, James; Reilly, Jamie; Meinzer, Marcus; Clark, John Greer; Joseph, Jane

2010-12-01

Language impairment is a common symptom of Alzheimer disease (AD), and is thought to be related to semantic processing. This study examines the contribution of another process, namely visual perception, on measures of confrontation naming and semantic association abilities in persons with probable AD. Twenty individuals with probable mild-moderate Alzheimer disease and 20 age-matched controls completed a battery of neuropsychologic measures assessing visual perception, naming, and semantic association ability. Visual discrimination tasks that varied in the degree to which they likely accessed stored structural representations were used to gauge whether structural processing deficits could account for deficits in naming and in semantic association in AD. Visual discrimination abilities of nameable objects in AD strongly predicted performance on both picture naming and semantic association ability, but lacked the same predictive value for controls. Although impaired, performance on visual discrimination tests of abstract shapes and novel faces showed no significant relationship with picture naming and semantic association. These results provide additional evidence to support that structural processing deficits exist in AD, and may contribute to object recognition and naming deficits. Our findings suggest that there is a common deficit in discrimination of pictures using nameable objects, picture naming, and semantic association of pictures in AD. Disturbances in structural processing of pictured items may be associated with lexical-semantic impairment in AD, owing to degraded internal storage of structural knowledge.

Remote semantic memory for public figures in HIV infection, alcoholism, and their comorbidity.

PubMed

Fama, Rosemary; Rosenbloom, Margaret J; Sassoon, Stephanie A; Thompson, Megan A; Pfefferbaum, Adolf; Sullivan, Edith V

2011-02-01

Impairments in component processes of working and episodic memory mark both HIV infection and chronic alcoholism, with compounded deficits often observed in individuals comorbid for these conditions. Remote semantic memory processes, however, have only seldom been studied in these diagnostic groups. Examination of remote semantic memory could provide insight into the underlying processes associated with storage and retrieval of learned information over extended time periods while elucidating spared and impaired cognitive functions in these clinical groups. We examined component processes of remote semantic memory in HIV infection and chronic alcoholism in 4 subject groups (HIV, ALC, HIV + ALC, and age-matched healthy adults) using a modified version of the Presidents Test. Free recall, recognition, and sequencing of presidential candidates and election dates were assessed. In addition, component processes of working, episodic, and semantic memory were assessed with ancillary cognitive tests. The comorbid group (HIV + ALC) was significantly impaired on sequencing of remote semantic information compared with age-matched healthy adults. Free recall of remote semantic information was also modestly impaired in the HIV + ALC group, but normal performance for recognition of this information was observed. Few differences were observed between the single diagnosis groups (HIV, ALC) and healthy adults, although examination of the component processes underlying remote semantic memory scores elicited differences between the HIV and ALC groups. Selective remote memory processes were related to lifetime alcohol consumption in the ALC group and to viral load and depression level in the HIV group. Hepatitis C diagnosis was associated with lower remote semantic memory scores in all 3 clinical groups. Education level did not account for group differences reported. This study provides behavioral support for the existence of adverse effects associated with the comorbidity of HIV infection and chronic alcoholism on selective component processes of memory function, with untoward effects exacerbated by Hepatitis C infection. The pattern of remote semantic memory function in HIV + ALC is consistent with those observed in neurological conditions primarily affecting frontostriatal pathways and suggests that remote memory dysfunction in HIV + ALC may be a result of impaired retrieval processes rather than loss of remote semantic information per se. Copyright © 2010 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

ERP evidence of distinct processes underlying semantic facilitation and interference in word production.

PubMed

Python, Grégoire; Fargier, Raphaël; Laganaro, Marina

2018-02-01

In everyday conversations, we take advantage of lexical-semantic contexts to facilitate speech production, but at the same time, we also have to reduce interference and inhibit semantic competitors. The blocked cyclic naming paradigm (BCNP) has been used to investigate such context effects. Typical results on production latencies showed semantic facilitation (or no effect) during the first presentation cycle, and interference emerging in subsequent cycles. Even if semantic contexts might be just as facilitative as interfering, previous BCNP studies focused on interference, which was interpreted as reflecting lemma selection and self-monitoring processes. Facilitation in the first cycle was rarely considered/analysed, although it potentially informs on word production to the same extent as interference. Here we contrasted the event-related potential (ERP) signatures of both semantic facilitation and interference in a BCNP. ERPs differed between homogeneous and heterogeneous blocks from about 365 msec post picture onset in the first cycle (facilitation) and in an earlier time-window (270 msec post picture onset) in the third cycle (interference). Three different analyses of the ERPs converge towards distinct processes underlying semantic facilitation and interference (post-lexical vs lexical respectively). The loci of semantic facilitation and interference are interpreted in the context of different theoretical frameworks of language production: the post-lexical locus of semantic facilitation involves interactive phonological-semantic processes and/or self-monitoring, whereas the lexical locus of semantic interference is in line with selection through increased lexical competition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An investigation of time course of category and semantic priming.

PubMed

Ray, Suchismita

2008-04-01

Low semantically similar exemplars in a category demonstrate the category-priming effect through priming of the category (i.e., exemplar-category-exemplar), whereas high semantically similar exemplars in the same category demonstrate the semantic-priming effect (i.e., direct activation of one high semantically similar exemplar by another). The author asked whether the category- and semantic-priming effects are based on a common memory process. She examined this question by testing the time courses of category- and semantic-priming effects. She tested participants on either category- or semantic-priming paradigm at 2 different time intervals (6 min and 42 min) by using a lexical decision task using exemplars from categories. Results showed that the time course of category priming was different from that of semantic priming. The author concludes that these 2 priming effects are based on 2 separate memory processes.

Sub-Lexical Phonological and Semantic Processing of Semantic Radicals: A Primed Naming Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Lin; Peng, Gang; Zheng, Hong-Ying; Su, I-Fan; Wang, William S.-Y.

2013-01-01

Most sinograms (i.e., Chinese characters) are phonograms (phonetic compounds). A phonogram is composed of a semantic radical and a phonetic radical, with the former usually implying the meaning of the phonogram, and the latter providing cues to its pronunciation. This study focused on the sub-lexical processing of semantic radicals which are…

Relatedness Proportion Effects in Semantic Categorization: Reconsidering the Automatic Spreading Activation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wit, Bianca; Kinoshita, Sachiko

2014-01-01

Semantic priming effects at a short prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony are commonly explained in terms of an automatic spreading activation process. According to this view, the proportion of related trials should have no impact on the size of the semantic priming effect. Using a semantic categorization task ("Is this a living…

Insights from child development on the relationship between episodic and semantic memory.

PubMed

Robertson, Erin K; Köhler, Stefan

2007-11-05

The present study was motivated by a recent controversy in the neuropsychological literature on semantic dementia as to whether episodic encoding requires semantic processing or whether it can proceed solely based on perceptual processing. We addressed this issue by examining the effect of age-related limitations in semantic competency on episodic memory in 4-6-year-old children (n=67). We administered three different forced-choice recognition memory tests for pictures previously encountered in a single study episode. The tests varied in the degree to which access to semantically encoded information was required at retrieval. Semantic competency predicted recognition performance regardless of whether access to semantic information was required. A direct relation between picture naming at encoding and subsequent recognition was also found for all tests. Our findings emphasize the importance of semantic encoding processes even in retrieval situations that purportedly do not require access to semantic information. They also highlight the importance of testing neuropsychological models of memory in different populations, healthy and brain damaged, at both ends of the developmental continuum.

Semantic-based crossmodal processing during visual suppression.

PubMed

Cox, Dustin; Hong, Sang Wook

2015-01-01

To reveal the mechanisms underpinning the influence of auditory input on visual awareness, we examine, (1) whether purely semantic-based multisensory integration facilitates the access to visual awareness for familiar visual events, and (2) whether crossmodal semantic priming is the mechanism responsible for the semantic auditory influence on visual awareness. Using continuous flash suppression, we rendered dynamic and familiar visual events (e.g., a video clip of an approaching train) inaccessible to visual awareness. We manipulated the semantic auditory context of the videos by concurrently pairing them with a semantically matching soundtrack (congruent audiovisual condition), a semantically non-matching soundtrack (incongruent audiovisual condition), or with no soundtrack (neutral video-only condition). We found that participants identified the suppressed visual events significantly faster (an earlier breakup of suppression) in the congruent audiovisual condition compared to the incongruent audiovisual condition and video-only condition. However, this facilitatory influence of semantic auditory input was only observed when audiovisual stimulation co-occurred. Our results suggest that the enhanced visual processing with a semantically congruent auditory input occurs due to audiovisual crossmodal processing rather than semantic priming, which may occur even when visual information is not available to visual awareness.

Ways of making-sense: Local gamma synchronization reveals differences between semantic processing induced by music and language.

PubMed

Barraza, Paulo; Chavez, Mario; Rodríguez, Eugenio

2016-01-01

Similar to linguistic stimuli, music can also prime the meaning of a subsequent word. However, it is so far unknown what is the brain dynamics underlying the semantic priming effect induced by music, and its relation to language. To elucidate these issues, we compare the brain oscillatory response to visual words that have been semantically primed either by a musical excerpt or by an auditory sentence. We found that semantic violation between music-word pairs triggers a classical ERP N400, and induces a sustained increase of long-distance theta phase synchrony, along with a transient increase of local gamma activity. Similar results were observed after linguistic semantic violation except for gamma activity, which increased after semantic congruence between sentence-word pairs. Our findings indicate that local gamma activity is a neural marker that signals different ways of semantic processing between music and language, revealing the dynamic and self-organized nature of the semantic processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Grasping the invisible: semantic processing of abstract words.

PubMed

Zdrazilova, Lenka; Pexman, Penny M

2013-12-01

The problem of how abstract word meanings are represented has been a challenging one. In the present study, we extended the semantic richness approach (e.g., Yap, Tan, Pexman, & Hargreaves in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 18:742-750, 2011) to abstract words, examining the effects of six semantic richness variables on lexical-semantic processing for 207 abstract nouns. The candidate richness dimensions were context availability (CA), sensory experience rating (SER), valence, arousal, semantic neighborhood (SN), and number of associates (NoA). The behavioral tasks were lexical decision (LDT) and semantic categorization (SCT). Our results showed that the semantic richness variables were significantly related to both LDT and SCT latencies, even after lexical and orthographic factors were controlled. The patterns of richness effects varied across tasks, with CA effects in the LDT, and SER and valence effects in the SCT. These results provide new insight into how abstract meanings may be grounded, and are consistent with a dynamic, multidimensional framework for semantic processing.

The Cognitive Unconscious.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kihlstrom, John F.

1987-01-01

Addresses implications drawn from contemporary research in cognitive psychology which deal with the impact of nonconscious mental structures and processes on an individual's experience, thought, and action. Discusses the information-processing perspective, automatic processes, subliminal perception, implicit memory, hypnotic alterations, and the…

SemanticSCo: A platform to support the semantic composition of services for gene expression analysis.

PubMed

Guardia, Gabriela D A; Ferreira Pires, Luís; da Silva, Eduardo G; de Farias, Cléver R G

2017-02-01

Gene expression studies often require the combined use of a number of analysis tools. However, manual integration of analysis tools can be cumbersome and error prone. To support a higher level of automation in the integration process, efforts have been made in the biomedical domain towards the development of semantic web services and supporting composition environments. Yet, most environments consider only the execution of simple service behaviours and requires users to focus on technical details of the composition process. We propose a novel approach to the semantic composition of gene expression analysis services that addresses the shortcomings of the existing solutions. Our approach includes an architecture designed to support the service composition process for gene expression analysis, and a flexible strategy for the (semi) automatic composition of semantic web services. Finally, we implement a supporting platform called SemanticSCo to realize the proposed composition approach and demonstrate its functionality by successfully reproducing a microarray study documented in the literature. The SemanticSCo platform provides support for the composition of RESTful web services semantically annotated using SAWSDL. Our platform also supports the definition of constraints/conditions regarding the order in which service operations should be invoked, thus enabling the definition of complex service behaviours. Our proposed solution for semantic web service composition takes into account the requirements of different stakeholders and addresses all phases of the service composition process. It also provides support for the definition of analysis workflows at a high-level of abstraction, thus enabling users to focus on biological research issues rather than on the technical details of the composition process. The SemanticSCo source code is available at https://github.com/usplssb/SemanticSCo. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Unconscious Mind.

PubMed

Bargh, John A; Morsella, Ezequiel

2008-01-01

The unconscious mind is still viewed by many psychological scientists as the shadow of a "real" conscious mind, though there now exists substantial evidence that the unconscious is not identifiably less flexible, complex, controlling, deliberative, or action-oriented than is its counterpart. This "conscious-centric" bias is due in part to the operational definition within cognitive psychology that equates unconscious with subliminal. We review the evidence challenging this restricted view of the unconscious emerging from contemporary social cognition research, which has traditionally defined the unconscious in terms of its unintentional nature; this research has demonstrated the existence of several independent unconscious behavioral guidance systems: perceptual, evaluative, and motivational. From this perspective, it is concluded that in both phylogeny and ontogeny, actions of an unconscious mind precede the arrival of a conscious mind-that action precedes reflection. © 2008 Association for Psychological Science.

When Sufficiently Processed, Semantically Related Distractor Pictures Hamper Picture Naming.

PubMed

Matushanskaya, Asya; Mädebach, Andreas; Müller, Matthias M; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2016-11-01

Prominent speech production models view lexical access as a competitive process. According to these models, a semantically related distractor picture should interfere with target picture naming more strongly than an unrelated one. However, several studies failed to obtain such an effect. Here, we demonstrate that semantic interference is obtained, when the distractor picture is sufficiently processed. Participants named one of two pictures presented in close temporal succession, with color cueing the target. Experiment 1 induced the prediction that the target appears first. When this prediction was violated (distractor first), semantic interference was observed. Experiment 2 ruled out that the time available for distractor processing was the driving force. These results show that semantically related distractor pictures interfere with the naming response when they are sufficiently processed. The data thus provide further support for models viewing lexical access as a competitive process.

Semantic Structure in Vocabulary Knowledge Interacts With Lexical and Sentence Processing in Infancy.

PubMed

Borovsky, Arielle; Ellis, Erica M; Evans, Julia L; Elman, Jeffrey L

2016-11-01

Although the size of a child's vocabulary associates with language-processing skills, little is understood regarding how this relation emerges. This investigation asks whether and how the structure of vocabulary knowledge affects language processing in English-learning 24-month-old children (N = 32; 18 F, 14 M). Parental vocabulary report was used to calculate semantic density in several early-acquired semantic categories. Performance on two language-processing tasks (lexical recognition and sentence processing) was compared as a function of semantic density. In both tasks, real-time comprehension was facilitated for higher density items, whereas lower density items experienced more interference. The findings indicate that language-processing skills develop heterogeneously and are influenced by the semantic network surrounding a known word. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Is Semantic Processing During Sentence Reading Autonomous or Controlled? Evidence from the N400 Component in a Dual Task Paradigm

PubMed Central

Hohlfeld, Annette; Martín-Loeches, Manuel; Sommer, Werner

2015-01-01

The present study contributes to the discussion on the automaticity of semantic processing. Whereas most previous research investigated semantic processing at word level, the present study addressed semantic processing during sentence reading. A dual task paradigm was combined with the recording of event-related brain potentials. Previous research at word level processing reported different patterns of interference with the N400 by additional tasks: attenuation of amplitude or delay of latency. In the present study, we presented Spanish sentences that were semantically correct or contained a semantic violation in a critical word. At different intervals preceding the critical word a tone was presented that required a high-priority choice response. At short intervals/high temporal overlap between the tasks mean amplitude of the N400 was reduced relative to long intervals/low temporal overlap, but there were no shifts of peak latency. We propose that processing at sentence level exerts a protective effect against the additional task. This is in accord with the attentional sensitization model (Kiefer & Martens, 2010), which suggests that semantic processing is an automatic process that can be enhanced by the currently activated task set. The present experimental sentences also induced a P600, which is taken as an index of integrative processing. Additional task effects are comparable to those in the N400 time window and are briefly discussed. PMID:26203312

Topographical gradients of semantics and phonology revealed by temporal lobe stimulation.

PubMed

Miozzo, Michele; Williams, Alicia C; McKhann, Guy M; Hamberger, Marla J

2017-02-01

Word retrieval is a fundamental component of oral communication, and it is well established that this function is supported by left temporal cortex. Nevertheless, the specific temporal areas mediating word retrieval and the particular linguistic processes these regions support have not been well delineated. Toward this end, we analyzed over 1000 naming errors induced by left temporal cortical stimulation in epilepsy surgery patients. Errors were primarily semantic (lemon → "pear"), phonological (horn → "corn"), non-responses, and delayed responses (correct responses after a delay), and each error type appeared predominantly in a specific region: semantic errors in mid-middle temporal gyrus (TG), phonological errors and delayed responses in middle and posterior superior TG, and non-responses in anterior inferior TG. To the extent that semantic errors, phonological errors and delayed responses reflect disruptions in different processes, our results imply topographical specialization of semantic and phonological processing. Specifically, results revealed an inferior-to-superior gradient, with more superior regions associated with phonological processing. Further, errors were increasingly semantically related to targets toward posterior temporal cortex. We speculate that detailed semantic input is needed to support phonological retrieval, and thus, the specificity of semantic input increases progressively toward posterior temporal regions implicated in phonological processing. Hum Brain Mapp 38:688-703, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Developmental Levels of Processing in Metaphor Interpretation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Janice; Pascual-Leone, Juan

1989-01-01

Outlines a theory of metaphor that posits varying levels of semantic processing and formalizes the levels in terms of kinds of semantic mapping operators. Predicted complexity of semantic mapping operators was tested using metaphor interpretations of 204 children aged 6-12 years and 24 adults. Processing score increased predictably with age. (SAK)

Semantic Processing of Previews within Compound Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Sarah J.; Bertram, Raymond; Hyona, Jukka

2008-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that previews of words prior to fixation can be processed orthographically, but not semantically, during reading of sentences (K. Rayner, D. A. Balota, & A. Pollatsek, 1986). The present study tested whether semantic processing of previews can occur within words. The preview of the second constituent of…

Semantic and self-referential processing of positive and negative trait adjectives in older adults

PubMed Central

Glisky, Elizabeth L.; Marquine, Maria J.

2008-01-01

The beneficial effects of self-referential processing on memory have been demonstrated in numerous experiments with younger adults but have rarely been studied in older individuals. In the present study we tested young people, younger-older adults, and older-older adults in a self-reference paradigm, and compared self-referential processing to general semantic processing. Findings indicated that older adults over the age of 75 and those with below average episodic memory function showed a decreased benefit from both semantic and self-referential processing relative to a structural baseline condition. However, these effects appeared to be confined to the shared semantic processes for the two conditions, leaving the added advantage for self-referential processing unaffected These results suggest that reference to the self engages qualitatively different processes compared to general semantic processing. These processes seem relatively impervious to age and to declining memory and executive function, suggesting that they might provide a particularly useful way for older adults to improve their memories. PMID:18608973

Selective Short-Term Memory Deficits Arise from Impaired Domain-General Semantic Control Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Paul; Jefferies, Elizabeth; Ehsan, Sheeba; Hopper, Samantha; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

2009-01-01

Semantic short-term memory (STM) patients have a reduced ability to retain semantic information over brief delays but perform well on other semantic tasks; this pattern suggests damage to a dedicated buffer for semantic information. Alternatively, these difficulties may arise from mild disruption to domain-general semantic processes that have…

The origins of age of acquisition and typicality effects: Semantic processing in aphasia and the ageing brain.

PubMed

Räling, Romy; Schröder, Astrid; Wartenburger, Isabell

2016-06-01

Age of acquisition (AOA) has frequently been shown to influence response times and accuracy rates in word processing and constitutes a meaningful variable in aphasic language processing, while its origin in the language processing system is still under debate. To find out where AOA originates and whether and how it is related to another important psycholinguistic variable, namely semantic typicality (TYP), we studied healthy, elderly controls and semantically impaired individuals using semantic priming. For this purpose, we collected reaction times and accuracy rates as well as event-related potential data in an auditory category-member-verification task. The present results confirm a semantic origin of TYP, but question the same for AOA while favouring its origin at the phonology-semantics interface. The data are further interpreted in consideration of recent theories of ageing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Memory and the Korsakoff syndrome: not remembering what is remembered.

PubMed

d'Ydewalle, Géry; Van Damme, Ilse

2007-03-14

Following the distinction between involuntary unconscious memory, involuntary conscious memory, and intentional retrieval, the focus of the present paper is whether there is an impairment of involuntary conscious memory among Korsakoff patients. At study, participants generated associations versus counted the number of letters with enclosed spaces or the number of vowels in the target words (semantic versus perceptual processing). In the Direct tests, stems were to be used to retrieve the targets with either guessing or no guessing allowed; in the Opposition tests, the stems were to be completed with the first word that came to mind but using another word if that first word was a target word; and in the Indirect tests, no reference was made to the target words from the study phase. In the Direct tests, the performance of Korsakoff patients was not necessarily worse than the one of healthy controls, provided guessing was allowed. More critical for the Korsakoff patients was the deficient involuntary conscious memory. The deficiency explained the suppression failures in the Opposition tests, the absence of performance differences between the Indirect and Opposition tests, the absence of a beneficial effect in providing information about the status of the stem, the performance boost when allowed to guess, and the very low rate of "Know"/"Remember" responses.

Triple-aspect monism: physiological, mental unconscious and conscious aspects of brain activity.

PubMed

Pereira, Alfredo

2014-06-01

Brain activity contains three fundamental aspects: (a) The physiological aspect, covering all kinds of processes that involve matter and/or energy; (b) the mental unconscious aspect, consisting of dynamical patterns (i.e., frequency, amplitude and phase-modulated waves) embodied in neural activity. These patterns are variously operated (transmitted, stored, combined, matched, amplified, erased, etc), forming cognitive and emotional unconscious processes and (c) the mental conscious aspect, consisting of feelings experienced in the first-person perspective and cognitive functions grounded in feelings, as memory formation, selection of the focus of attention, voluntary behavior, aesthetical appraisal and ethical judgment. Triple-aspect monism (TAM) is a philosophical theory that provides a model of the relation of the three aspects. Spatially distributed neuronal dendritic potentials generate amplitude-modulated waveforms transmitted to the extracellular medium and adjacent astrocytes, prompting the formation of large waves in the astrocyte network, which are claimed to both integrate distributed information and instantiate feelings. According to the valence of the feeling, the large wave feeds back on neuronal synapses, modulating (reinforcing or depressing) cognitive and behavioral functions.

Semantic Processing in Native and Second Language: Evidence from Hemispheric Differences in Fine and Coarse Semantic Coding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faust, Miriam; Ben-Artzi, Elisheva; Vardi, Nili

2012-01-01

Previous studies suggest that whereas the left hemisphere (LH) is involved in fine semantic processing, the right hemisphere (RH) is uniquely engaged in coarse semantic coding including the comprehension of distinct types of language such as figurative language, lexical ambiguity and verbal humor (e.g., and ). The present study examined the…

Attractor Dynamics and Semantic Neighborhood Density: Processing Is Slowed by Near Neighbors and Speeded by Distant Neighbors

PubMed Central

Mirman, Daniel; Magnuson, James S.

2008-01-01

The authors investigated semantic neighborhood density effects on visual word processing to examine the dynamics of activation and competition among semantic representations. Experiment 1 validated feature-based semantic representations as a basis for computing semantic neighborhood density and suggested that near and distant neighbors have opposite effects on word processing. Experiment 2 confirmed these results: Word processing was slower for dense near neighborhoods and faster for dense distant neighborhoods. Analysis of a computational model showed that attractor dynamics can produce this pattern of neighborhood effects. The authors argue for reconsideration of traditional models of neighborhood effects in terms of attractor dynamics, which allow both inhibitory and facilitative effects to emerge. PMID:18194055

Direct evidence for the contributive role of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus in non-verbal semantic cognition.

PubMed

Herbet, Guillaume; Moritz-Gasser, Sylvie; Duffau, Hugues

2017-05-01

The neural foundations underlying semantic processing have been extensively investigated, highlighting a pivotal role of the ventral stream. However, although studies concerning the involvement of the left ventral route in verbal semantics are proficient, the potential implication of the right ventral pathway in non-verbal semantics has been to date unexplored. To gain insights on this matter, we used an intraoperative direct electrostimulation to map the structures mediating the non-verbal semantic system in the right hemisphere. Thirteen patients presenting with a right low-grade glioma located within or close to the ventral stream were included. During the 'awake' procedure, patients performed both a visual non-verbal semantic task and a verbal (control) task. At the cortical level, in the right hemisphere, we found non-verbal semantic-related sites (n = 7 in 6 patients) in structures commonly associated with verbal semantic processes in the left hemisphere, including the superior temporal gyrus, the pars triangularis, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. At the subcortical level, we found non-verbal semantic-related sites in all but one patient (n = 15 sites in 12 patients). Importantly, all these responsive stimulation points were located on the spatial course of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). These findings provide direct support for a critical role of the right IFOF in non-verbal semantic processing. Based upon these original data, and in connection with previous findings showing the involvement of the left IFOF in non-verbal semantic processing, we hypothesize the existence of a bilateral network underpinning the non-verbal semantic system, with a homotopic connectional architecture.

A meta-analysis of fMRI studies on Chinese orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing.

PubMed

Wu, Chiao-Yi; Ho, Moon-Ho Ringo; Chen, Shen-Hsing Annabel

2012-10-15

A growing body of neuroimaging evidence has shown that Chinese character processing recruits differential activation from alphabetic languages due to its unique linguistic features. As more investigations on Chinese character processing have recently become available, we applied a meta-analytic approach to summarize previous findings and examined the neural networks for orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing of Chinese characters independently. The activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method was used to analyze eight studies in the orthographic task category, eleven in the phonological and fifteen in the semantic task categories. Converging activation among three language-processing components was found in the left middle frontal gyrus, the left superior parietal lobule and the left mid-fusiform gyrus, suggesting a common sub-network underlying the character recognition process regardless of the task nature. With increasing task demands, the left inferior parietal lobule and the right superior temporal gyrus were specialized for phonological processing, while the left middle temporal gyrus was involved in semantic processing. Functional dissociation was identified in the left inferior frontal gyrus, with the posterior dorsal part for phonological processing and the anterior ventral part for semantic processing. Moreover, bilateral involvement of the ventral occipito-temporal regions was found for both phonological and semantic processing. The results provide better understanding of the neural networks underlying Chinese orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing, and consolidate the findings of additional recruitment of the left middle frontal gyrus and the right fusiform gyrus for Chinese character processing as compared with the universal language network that has been based on alphabetic languages. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alpha Oscillations during Incidental Encoding Predict Subsequent Memory for New "Foil" Information.

PubMed

Vogelsang, David A; Gruber, Matthias; Bergström, Zara M; Ranganath, Charan; Simons, Jon S

2018-05-01

People can employ adaptive strategies to increase the likelihood that previously encoded information will be successfully retrieved. One such strategy is to constrain retrieval toward relevant information by reimplementing the neurocognitive processes that were engaged during encoding. Using EEG, we examined the temporal dynamics with which constraining retrieval toward semantic versus nonsemantic information affects the processing of new "foil" information encountered during a memory test. Time-frequency analysis of EEG data acquired during an initial study phase revealed that semantic compared with nonsemantic processing was associated with alpha decreases in a left frontal electrode cluster from around 600 msec after stimulus onset. Successful encoding of semantic versus nonsemantic foils during a subsequent memory test was related to decreases in alpha oscillatory activity in the same left frontal electrode cluster, which emerged relatively late in the trial at around 1000-1600 msec after stimulus onset. Across participants, left frontal alpha power elicited by semantic processing during the study phase correlated significantly with left frontal alpha power associated with semantic foil encoding during the memory test. Furthermore, larger left frontal alpha power decreases elicited by semantic foil encoding during the memory test predicted better subsequent semantic foil recognition in an additional surprise foil memory test, although this effect did not reach significance. These findings indicate that constraining retrieval toward semantic information involves reimplementing semantic encoding operations that are mediated by alpha oscillations and that such reimplementation occurs at a late stage of memory retrieval, perhaps reflecting additional monitoring processes.

Semantic Processing of Living and Nonliving Concepts across the Cerebral Hemispheres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilgrim, L.K.; Moss, H.E.; Tyler, L.K.

2005-01-01

Studies of patients with category-specific semantic deficits suggest that the right and left cerebral hemispheres may be differently involved in the processing of living and nonliving domains concepts. In this study, we investigate whether there are hemisphere differences in the semantic processing of these domains in healthy volunteers. Based on…

Semantic Processing in Children and Adults: Incongruity and the N400

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benau, Erik M.; Morris, Joanna; Couperus, J. W.

2011-01-01

Semantic processing in 10-year-old children and adults was examined using event related potentials (ERPs). The N400 component, an index of semantic processing, was studied in relation to sentences that ended with congruent, moderately incongruent, or strongly incongruent words. N400 amplitude in adults corresponded to levels of semantic…

The effect of semantic transparency on the processing of morphologically derived words: Evidence from decision latencies and event-related potentials.

PubMed

Jared, Debra; Jouravlev, Olessia; Joanisse, Marc F

2017-03-01

Decomposition theories of morphological processing in visual word recognition posit an early morpho-orthographic parser that is blind to semantic information, whereas parallel distributed processing (PDP) theories assume that the transparency of orthographic-semantic relationships influences processing from the beginning. To test these alternatives, the performance of participants on transparent (foolish), quasi-transparent (bookish), opaque (vanish), and orthographic control words (bucket) was examined in a series of 5 experiments. In Experiments 1-3 variants of a masked priming lexical-decision task were used; Experiment 4 used a masked priming semantic decision task, and Experiment 5 used a single-word (nonpriming) semantic decision task with a color-boundary manipulation. In addition to the behavioral data, event-related potential (ERP) data were collected in Experiments 1, 2, 4, and 5. Across all experiments, we observed a graded effect of semantic transparency in behavioral and ERP data, with the largest effect for semantically transparent words, the next largest for quasi-transparent words, and the smallest for opaque words. The results are discussed in terms of decomposition versus PDP approaches to morphological processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Argumentation and the Unconscious.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hample, Dale

1986-01-01

Argues that the unconscious mind plays a central role in argumentation. Discusses the nature of the unconscious and analyzes invention, focusing on rules theory. Claims that argument reception is controlled by the unconscious. Identifies a series of basic issues needing investigation. (JD)

Modulation of the N400 component in relation to hypomanic personality traits in a word meaning ambiguity resolution task.

PubMed

Raucher-Chéné, Delphine; Terrien, Sarah; Gobin, Pamela; Gierski, Fabien; Kaladjian, Arthur; Besche-Richard, Chrystel

2017-09-01

High levels of hypomanic personality traits have been associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar disorder (BD). Changes in semantic content, impaired verbal associations, abnormal prosody, and abnormal speed of language are core features of BD, and are thought to be related to semantic processing abnormalities. In the present study, we used event-related potentials to investigate the relation between semantic processing (N400 component) and hypomanic personality traits. We assessed 65 healthy young adults on the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS). Event-related potentials were recorded during a semantic ambiguity resolution task exploring semantic ambiguity (polysemous word ending a sentence) and congruency (target word semantically related to the sentence). As expected, semantic ambiguity and congruency both elicited an N400 effect across our sample. Correlation analyses showed a significant positive relationship between the Social Vitality subscore of the HPS and N400 modulation in the frontal region of interest in the incongruent unambiguous condition, and in the frontocentral region of interest in the incongruent ambiguous condition. We found differences in semantic processing (i.e., detection of incongruence and semantic inhibition) in individuals with higher Social Vitality subscores. In the light of the literature, we discuss the notion that a semantic processing impairment could be a potential marker of vulnerability to BD, and one that needs to be explored further in this clinical population. © 2017 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2017 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Fronto-temporal interactions are functionally relevant for semantic control in language processing.

PubMed

Wawrzyniak, Max; Hoffstaedter, Felix; Klingbeil, Julian; Stockert, Anika; Wrede, Katrin; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Eickhoff, Simon B; Classen, Joseph; Saur, Dorothee

2017-01-01

Semantic cognition, i.e. processing of meaning is based on semantic representations and their controlled retrieval. Semantic control has been shown to be implemented in a network that consists of left inferior frontal (IFG), and anterior and posterior middle temporal gyri (a/pMTG). We aimed to disrupt semantic control processes with continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over left IFG and pMTG and to study whether behavioral effects are moderated by induced alterations in resting-state functional connectivity. To this end, we applied real cTBS over left IFG and left pMTG as well as sham stimulation on 20 healthy participants in a within-subject design. Stimulation was followed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and a semantic priming paradigm. Resting-state functional connectivity of regions of interest in left IFG, pMTG and aMTG revealed highly interconnected left-lateralized fronto-temporal networks representing the semantic system. We did not find any significant direct modulation of either task performance or resting-state functional connectivity by effective cTBS. However, after sham cTBS, functional connectivity between IFG and pMTG correlated with task performance under high semantic control demands in the semantic priming paradigm. These findings provide evidence for the functional relevance of interactions between IFG and pMTG for semantic control processes. This interaction was functionally less relevant after cTBS over aIFG which might be interpretable in terms of an indirect disruptive effect of cTBS.

Dual processing and diagnostic errors.

PubMed

Norman, Geoff

2009-09-01

In this paper, I review evidence from two theories in psychology relevant to diagnosis and diagnostic errors. "Dual Process" theories of thinking, frequently mentioned with respect to diagnostic error, propose that categorization decisions can be made with either a fast, unconscious, contextual process called System 1 or a slow, analytical, conscious, and conceptual process, called System 2. Exemplar theories of categorization propose that many category decisions in everyday life are made by unconscious matching to a particular example in memory, and these remain available and retrievable individually. I then review studies of clinical reasoning based on these theories, and show that the two processes are equally effective; System 1, despite its reliance in idiosyncratic, individual experience, is no more prone to cognitive bias or diagnostic error than System 2. Further, I review evidence that instructions directed at encouraging the clinician to explicitly use both strategies can lead to consistent reduction in error rates.

Conscious awareness is required for holistic face processing.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Rees, Geraint

2014-07-01

Investigating the limits of unconscious processing is essential to understand the function of consciousness. Here, we explored whether holistic face processing, a mechanism believed to be important for face processing in general, can be accomplished unconsciously. Using a novel "eyes-face" stimulus we tested whether discrimination of pairs of eyes was influenced by the surrounding face context. While the eyes were fully visible, the faces that provided context could be rendered invisible through continuous flash suppression. Two experiments with three different sets of face stimuli and a subliminal learning procedure converged to show that invisible faces did not influence perception of visible eyes. In contrast, surrounding faces, when they were clearly visible, strongly influenced perception of the eyes. Thus, we conclude that conscious awareness might be a prerequisite for holistic face processing. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Semantic memory is impaired in patients with unilateral anterior temporal lobe resection for temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Ehsan, Sheeba; Baker, Gus A; Rogers, Timothy T

2012-01-01

Contemporary clinical and basic neuroscience studies have increasingly implicated the anterior temporal lobe regions, bilaterally, in the formation of coherent concepts. Mounting convergent evidence for the importance of the anterior temporal lobe in semantic memory is found in patients with bilateral anterior temporal lobe damage (e.g. semantic dementia), functional neuroimaging and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation studies. If this proposal is correct, then one might expect patients with anterior temporal lobe resection for long-standing temporal lobe epilepsy to be semantically impaired. Such patients, however, do not present clinically with striking comprehension deficits but with amnesia and variable anomia, leading some to conclude that semantic memory is intact in resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and thus casting doubt over the conclusions drawn from semantic dementia and linked basic neuroscience studies. Whilst there is a considerable neuropsychological literature on temporal lobe epilepsy, few studies have probed semantic memory directly, with mixed results, and none have undertaken the same type of systematic investigation of semantic processing that has been conducted with other patient groups. In this study, therefore, we investigated the semantic performance of 20 patients with resection for chronic temporal lobe epilepsy with a full battery of semantic assessments, including more sensitive measures of semantic processing. The results provide a bridge between the current clinical observations about resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and the expectations from semantic dementia and other neuroscience findings. Specifically, we found that on simple semantic tasks, the patients' accuracy fell in the normal range, with the exception that some patients with left resection for temporal lobe epilepsy had measurable anomia. Once the semantic assessments were made more challenging, by probing specific-level concepts, lower frequency/more abstract items or measuring reaction times on semantic tasks versus those on difficulty-matched non-semantic assessments, evidence of a semantic impairment was found in all individuals. We conclude by describing a unified, computationally inspired framework for capturing the variable degrees of semantic impairment found across different patient groups (semantic dementia, temporal lobe epilepsy, glioma and stroke) as well as semantic processing in neurologically intact participants.

Semantic memory is impaired in patients with unilateral anterior temporal lobe resection for temporal lobe epilepsy

PubMed Central

Ehsan, Sheeba; Baker, Gus A.; Rogers, Timothy T.

2012-01-01

Contemporary clinical and basic neuroscience studies have increasingly implicated the anterior temporal lobe regions, bilaterally, in the formation of coherent concepts. Mounting convergent evidence for the importance of the anterior temporal lobe in semantic memory is found in patients with bilateral anterior temporal lobe damage (e.g. semantic dementia), functional neuroimaging and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation studies. If this proposal is correct, then one might expect patients with anterior temporal lobe resection for long-standing temporal lobe epilepsy to be semantically impaired. Such patients, however, do not present clinically with striking comprehension deficits but with amnesia and variable anomia, leading some to conclude that semantic memory is intact in resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and thus casting doubt over the conclusions drawn from semantic dementia and linked basic neuroscience studies. Whilst there is a considerable neuropsychological literature on temporal lobe epilepsy, few studies have probed semantic memory directly, with mixed results, and none have undertaken the same type of systematic investigation of semantic processing that has been conducted with other patient groups. In this study, therefore, we investigated the semantic performance of 20 patients with resection for chronic temporal lobe epilepsy with a full battery of semantic assessments, including more sensitive measures of semantic processing. The results provide a bridge between the current clinical observations about resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and the expectations from semantic dementia and other neuroscience findings. Specifically, we found that on simple semantic tasks, the patients’ accuracy fell in the normal range, with the exception that some patients with left resection for temporal lobe epilepsy had measurable anomia. Once the semantic assessments were made more challenging, by probing specific-level concepts, lower frequency/more abstract items or measuring reaction times on semantic tasks versus those on difficulty-matched non-semantic assessments, evidence of a semantic impairment was found in all individuals. We conclude by describing a unified, computationally inspired framework for capturing the variable degrees of semantic impairment found across different patient groups (semantic dementia, temporal lobe epilepsy, glioma and stroke) as well as semantic processing in neurologically intact participants. PMID:22287382

Semantic control and modality: an input processing deficit in aphasia leading to deregulated semantic cognition in a single modality.

PubMed

Thompson, Hannah E; Jefferies, Elizabeth

2013-08-01

Research suggests that semantic memory deficits can occur in at least three ways. Patients can (1) show amodal degradation of concepts within the semantic store itself, such as in semantic dementia (SD), (2) have difficulty in controlling activation within the semantic system and accessing appropriate knowledge in line with current goals or context, as in semantic aphasia (SA) and (3) experience a semantic deficit in only one modality following degraded input from sensory cortex. Patients with SA show deficits of semantic control and access across word and picture tasks, consistent with the view that their problems arise from impaired modality-general control processes. However, there are a few reports in the literature of patients with semantic access problems restricted to auditory-verbal materials, who show decreasing ability to retrieve concepts from words when they are presented repeatedly with closely related distractors. These patients challenge the notion that semantic control processes are modality-general and suggest instead a separation of 'access' to auditory-verbal and non-verbal semantic systems. We had the rare opportunity to study such a case in detail. Our aims were to examine the effect of manipulations of control demands in auditory-verbal semantic, non-verbal semantic and non-semantic tasks, allowing us to assess whether such cases always show semantic control/access impairments that follow a modality-specific pattern, or whether there are alternative explanations. Our findings revealed: (1) deficits on executive tasks, unrelated to semantic demands, which were more evident in the auditory modality than the visual modality; (2) deficits in executively-demanding semantic tasks which were accentuated in the auditory-verbal domain compared with the visual modality, but still present on non-verbal tasks, and (3) a coupling between comprehension and executive control requirements, in that mild impairment on single word comprehension was greatly increased on more demanding, associative judgements across modalities. This pattern of results suggests that mild executive-semantic impairment, paired with disrupted connectivity from auditory input, may give rise to semantic 'access' deficits affecting only the auditory modality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Somatotopic Semantic Priming and Prediction in the Motor System

PubMed Central

Grisoni, Luigi; Dreyer, Felix R.; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2016-01-01

The recognition of action-related sounds and words activates motor regions, reflecting the semantic grounding of these symbols in action information; in addition, motor cortex exerts causal influences on sound perception and language comprehension. However, proponents of classic symbolic theories still dispute the role of modality-preferential systems such as the motor cortex in the semantic processing of meaningful stimuli. To clarify whether the motor system carries semantic processes, we investigated neurophysiological indexes of semantic relationships between action-related sounds and words. Event-related potentials revealed that action-related words produced significantly larger stimulus-evoked (Mismatch Negativity-like) and predictive brain responses (Readiness Potentials) when presented in body-part-incongruent sound contexts (e.g., “kiss” in footstep sound context; “kick” in whistle context) than in body-part-congruent contexts, a pattern reminiscent of neurophysiological correlates of semantic priming. Cortical generators of the semantic relatedness effect were localized in areas traditionally associated with semantic memory, including left inferior frontal cortex and temporal pole, and, crucially, in motor areas, where body-part congruency of action sound–word relationships was indexed by a somatotopic pattern of activation. As our results show neurophysiological manifestations of action-semantic priming in the motor cortex, they prove semantic processing in the motor system and thus in a modality-preferential system of the human brain. PMID:26908635

Integrating a Hypernymic Proposition Interpreter into a Semantic Processor for Biomedical Texts

PubMed Central

Fiszman, Marcelo; Rindflesch, Thomas C.; Kilicoglu, Halil

2003-01-01

Semantic processing provides the potential for producing high quality results in natural language processing (NLP) applications in the biomedical domain. In this paper, we address a specific semantic phenomenon, the hypernymic proposition, and concentrate on integrating the interpretation of such predications into a more general semantic processor in order to improve overall accuracy. A preliminary evaluation assesses the contribution of hypernymic propositions in providing more specific semantic predications and thus improving effectiveness in retrieving treatment propositions in MEDLINE abstracts. Finally, we discuss the generalization of this methodology to additional semantic propositions as well as other types of biomedical texts. PMID:14728170

Multi-talker background and semantic priming effect

PubMed Central

Dekerle, Marie; Boulenger, Véronique; Hoen, Michel; Meunier, Fanny

2014-01-01

The reported studies have aimed to investigate whether informational masking in a multi-talker background relies on semantic interference between the background and target using an adapted semantic priming paradigm. In 3 experiments, participants were required to perform a lexical decision task on a target item embedded in backgrounds composed of 1–4 voices. These voices were Semantically Consistent (SC) voices (i.e., pronouncing words sharing semantic features with the target) or Semantically Inconsistent (SI) voices (i.e., pronouncing words semantically unrelated to each other and to the target). In the first experiment, backgrounds consisted of 1 or 2 SC voices. One and 2 SI voices were added in Experiments 2 and 3, respectively. The results showed a semantic priming effect only in the conditions where the number of SC voices was greater than the number of SI voices, suggesting that semantic priming depended on prime intelligibility and strategic processes. However, even if backgrounds were composed of 3 or 4 voices, reducing intelligibility, participants were able to recognize words from these backgrounds, although no semantic priming effect on the targets was observed. Overall this finding suggests that informational masking can occur at a semantic level if intelligibility is sufficient. Based on the Effortfulness Hypothesis, we also suggest that when there is an increased difficulty in extracting target signals (caused by a relatively high number of voices in the background), more cognitive resources were allocated to formal processes (i.e., acoustic and phonological), leading to a decrease in available resources for deeper semantic processing of background words, therefore preventing semantic priming from occurring. PMID:25400572

Combinatorial semantics strengthens angular-anterior temporal coupling.

PubMed

Molinaro, Nicola; Paz-Alonso, Pedro M; Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni; Carreiras, Manuel

2015-04-01

The human semantic combinatorial system allows us to create a wide number of new meanings from a finite number of existing representations. The present study investigates the neural dynamics underlying the semantic processing of different conceptual constructions based on predictions from previous neuroanatomical models of the semantic processing network. In two experiments, participants read sentences for comprehension containing noun-adjective pairs in three different conditions: prototypical (Redundant), nonsense (Anomalous) and low-typical but composable (Contrastive). In Experiment 1 we examined the processing costs associated to reading these sentences and found a processing dissociation between Anomalous and Contrastive word pairs, compared to prototypical (Redundant) stimuli. In Experiment 2, functional connectivity results showed strong co-activation across conditions between inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG), as well as between these two regions and middle frontal gyrus (MFG), anterior temporal cortex (ATC) and fusiform gyrus (FG), consistent with previous neuroanatomical models. Importantly, processing of low-typical (but composable) meanings relative to prototypical and anomalous constructions was associated with a stronger positive coupling between ATC and angular gyrus (AG). Our results underscore the critical role of IFG-MTG co-activation during semantic processing and how other relevant nodes within the semantic processing network come into play to handle visual-orthographic information, to maintain multiple lexical-semantic representations in working memory and to combine existing representations while creatively constructing meaning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Semantic word category processing in semantic dementia and posterior cortical atrophy.

PubMed

Shebani, Zubaida; Patterson, Karalyn; Nestor, Peter J; Diaz-de-Grenu, Lara Z; Dawson, Kate; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2017-08-01

There is general agreement that perisylvian language cortex plays a major role in lexical and semantic processing; but the contribution of additional, more widespread, brain areas in the processing of different semantic word categories remains controversial. We investigated word processing in two groups of patients whose neurodegenerative diseases preferentially affect specific parts of the brain, to determine whether their performance would vary as a function of semantic categories proposed to recruit those brain regions. Cohorts with (i) Semantic Dementia (SD), who have anterior temporal-lobe atrophy, and (ii) Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), who have predominantly parieto-occipital atrophy, performed a lexical decision test on words from five different lexico-semantic categories: colour (e.g., yellow), form (oval), number (seven), spatial prepositions (under) and function words (also). Sets of pseudo-word foils matched the target words in length and bi-/tri-gram frequency. Word-frequency was matched between the two visual word categories (colour and form) and across the three other categories (number, prepositions, and function words). Age-matched healthy individuals served as controls. Although broad word processing deficits were apparent in both patient groups, the deficit was strongest for colour words in SD and for spatial prepositions in PCA. The patterns of performance on the lexical decision task demonstrate (a) general lexicosemantic processing deficits in both groups, though more prominent in SD than in PCA, and (b) differential involvement of anterior-temporal and posterior-parietal cortex in the processing of specific semantic categories of words. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Cultural adaptation and linguistic validation of the Family Decision Making Self Efficacy Scale (FDMSES).

PubMed

Limardi, S; Rocco, G; Stievano, A; Vellone, E; Valle, A; Torino, F; Alvaro, R

2014-01-01

Nurses, following their ethical mandate, collaborate with other health and social professionals or people involved in caring activities. Caregivers in this context are becoming more and more significant for the family or the cared person, who for their stable presence and emotional proximity play a pivotal caring role. To maximize the contribution of caregivers, objective tools that emphasize their skill sets are necessary. The cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Family Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale is part of a larger project aimed at understanding the resilience of caregivers in the field of palliative care. Self-efficacy is one of the aspects of personality most closely associated with resilience. Self-efficacy is shown in a specific context, therefore, its study and evaluation of its level, require capabilities that enable individuals perceive themselves as effective in a particular circumstance. The Family Decision Making Self- Efficacy Scale assesses the behavior of caregivers of patients at the end of their life. The Family Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale was translated (forward and back translation) and was adapted to the Italian clinical cultural setting by a research team that included experts in palliative care, native translators with experience in nursing and experts in nursing. A consensus on the wording of each item in relation to semantic, idiomatic, experiential and conceptual equivalence was sought. The clarity of the wording and the pertinence of the items of the scenario with the conscious patient and with the unconscious patient were evaluated by a group of caregivers who tested the instrument. The Italian version of the instrument included 12 items for the scenario with the conscious patient and 12 for the scenario with the unconscious patient. The working group expressed consensus on the pretesting version of the instrument. The pre-testing version of the scale was tested on 60 caregivers, 47 taking care of conscious patients and 13 taking care of unconscious patients. In both cases the content of the items was judged relevant and understandable. The results for the cross-cultural validation were satisfactory and allowed the application of the instrument in the Italian context.

Semantic Priming for Coordinate Distant Concepts in Alzheimer's Disease Patients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perri, R.; Zannino, G. D.; Caltagirone, C.; Carlesimo, G. A.

2011-01-01

Semantic priming paradigms have been used to investigate semantic knowledge in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). While priming effects produced by prime-target pairs with associative relatedness reflect processes at both lexical and semantic levels, priming effects produced by words that are semantically related but not associated should…

[Electrophysiological bases of semantic processing of objects].

PubMed

Kahlaoui, Karima; Baccino, Thierry; Joanette, Yves; Magnié, Marie-Noële

2007-02-01

How pictures and words are stored and processed in the human brain constitute a long-standing question in cognitive psychology. Behavioral studies have yielded a large amount of data addressing this issue. Generally speaking, these data show that there are some interactions between the semantic processing of pictures and words. However, behavioral methods can provide only limited insight into certain findings. Fortunately, Event-Related Potential (ERP) provides on-line cues about the temporal nature of cognitive processes and contributes to the exploration of their neural substrates. ERPs have been used in order to better understand semantic processing of words and pictures. The main objective of this article is to offer an overview of the electrophysiologic bases of semantic processing of words and pictures. Studies presented in this article showed that the processing of words is associated with an N 400 component, whereas pictures elicited both N 300 and N 400 components. Topographical analysis of the N 400 distribution over the scalp is compatible with the idea that both image-mediated concrete words and pictures access an amodal semantic system. However, given the distinctive N 300 patterns, observed only during picture processing, it appears that picture and word processing rely upon distinct neuronal networks, even if they end up activating more or less similar semantic representations.

Functional segregation of the inferior frontal gyrus for syntactic processes: a functional magnetic-resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Uchiyama, Yuji; Toyoda, Hiroshi; Honda, Manabu; Yoshida, Haruyo; Kochiyama, Takanori; Ebe, Kazutoshi; Sadato, Norihiro

2008-07-01

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in 18 normal volunteers to determine whether there is separate representation of syntactic, semantic, and verbal working memory processing in the left inferior frontal gyrus (GFi). We compared a sentence comprehension task with a short-term memory maintenance task to identify syntactic and semantic processing regions. To investigate the effects of syntactic and verbal working memory load while minimizing the differences in semantic processes, we used comprehension tasks with garden-path (GP) sentences, which require re-parsing, and non-garden-path (NGP) sentences. Compared with the short-term memory task, sentence comprehension activated the left GFi, including Brodmann areas (BAs) 44, 45, and 47, and the left superior temporal gyrus. In GP versus NGP sentences, there was greater activity in the left BAs 44, 45, and 46 extending to the left anterior insula, the pre-supplementary motor area, and the right cerebellum. In the left GFi, verbal working memory activity was located more dorsally (BA 44/45), semantic processing was located more ventrally (BA 47), and syntactic processing was located in between (BA 45). These findings indicate a close relationship between semantic and syntactic processes, and suggest that BA 45 might link verbal working memory and semantic processing via syntactic unification processes.

Altered thalamocortical rhythmicity and connectivity in mice lacking CaV3.1 T-type Ca2+ channels in unconsciousness

PubMed Central

Choi, Soonwook; Yu, Eunah; Lee, Seongwon; Llinás, Rodolfo R.

2015-01-01

In unconscious status (e.g., deep sleep and anesthetic unconsciousness) where cognitive functions are not generated there is still a significant level of brain activity present. Indeed, the electrophysiology of the unconscious brain is characterized by well-defined thalamocortical rhythmicity. Here we address the ionic basis for such thalamocortical rhythms during unconsciousness. In particular, we address the role of CaV3.1 T-type Ca2+ channels, which are richly expressed in thalamic neurons. Toward this aim, we examined the electrophysiological and behavioral phenotypes of mice lacking CaV3.1 channels (CaV3.1 knockout) during unconsciousness induced by ketamine or ethanol administration. Our findings indicate that CaV3.1 KO mice displayed attenuated low-frequency oscillations in thalamocortical loops, especially in the 1- to 4-Hz delta band, compared with control mice (CaV3.1 WT). Intriguingly, we also found that CaV3.1 KO mice exhibited augmented high-frequency oscillations during unconsciousness. In a behavioral measure of unconsciousness dynamics, CaV3.1 KO mice took longer to fall into the unconscious state than controls. In addition, such unconscious events had a shorter duration than those of control mice. The thalamocortical interaction level between mediodorsal thalamus and frontal cortex in CaV3.1 KO mice was significantly lower, especially for delta band oscillations, compared with that of CaV3.1 WT mice, during unconsciousness. These results suggest that the CaV3.1 channel is required for the generation of a given set of thalamocortical rhythms during unconsciousness. Further, that thalamocortical resonant neuronal activity supported by this channel is important for the control of vigilance states. PMID:26056284

Altered thalamocortical rhythmicity and connectivity in mice lacking CaV3.1 T-type Ca2+ channels in unconsciousness.

PubMed

Choi, Soonwook; Yu, Eunah; Lee, Seongwon; Llinás, Rodolfo R

2015-06-23

In unconscious status (e.g., deep sleep and anesthetic unconsciousness) where cognitive functions are not generated there is still a significant level of brain activity present. Indeed, the electrophysiology of the unconscious brain is characterized by well-defined thalamocortical rhythmicity. Here we address the ionic basis for such thalamocortical rhythms during unconsciousness. In particular, we address the role of CaV3.1 T-type Ca(2+) channels, which are richly expressed in thalamic neurons. Toward this aim, we examined the electrophysiological and behavioral phenotypes of mice lacking CaV3.1 channels (CaV3.1 knockout) during unconsciousness induced by ketamine or ethanol administration. Our findings indicate that CaV3.1 KO mice displayed attenuated low-frequency oscillations in thalamocortical loops, especially in the 1- to 4-Hz delta band, compared with control mice (CaV3.1 WT). Intriguingly, we also found that CaV3.1 KO mice exhibited augmented high-frequency oscillations during unconsciousness. In a behavioral measure of unconsciousness dynamics, CaV3.1 KO mice took longer to fall into the unconscious state than controls. In addition, such unconscious events had a shorter duration than those of control mice. The thalamocortical interaction level between mediodorsal thalamus and frontal cortex in CaV3.1 KO mice was significantly lower, especially for delta band oscillations, compared with that of CaV3.1 WT mice, during unconsciousness. These results suggest that the CaV3.1 channel is required for the generation of a given set of thalamocortical rhythms during unconsciousness. Further, that thalamocortical resonant neuronal activity supported by this channel is important for the control of vigilance states.

EEG Theta and Alpha Responses Reveal Qualitative Differences in Processing Taxonomic versus Thematic Semantic Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maguire, Mandy J.; Brier, Matthew R.; Ferree, Thomas C.

2010-01-01

Despite the importance of semantic relationships to our understanding of semantic knowledge, the nature of the neural processes underlying these abilities are not well understood. In order to investigate these processes, 20 healthy adults listened to thematically related (e.g., leash-dog), taxonomically related (e.g., horse-dog), or unrelated…

Semantic Processing of Sentences in Preschoolers with Specific Language Impairment: Evidence from the N400 Effect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pijnacker, Judith; Davids, Nina; van Weerdenburg, Marjolijn; Verhoeven, Ludo; Knoors, Harry; van Alphen, Petra

2017-01-01

Purpose: Given the complexity of sentence processing and the specific problems that children with specific language impairment (SLI) experience, we investigated the time course and characteristics of semantic processing at the sentence level in Dutch preschoolers with SLI. Method: We measured N400 responses to semantically congruent and…

The Unconscious in History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montessori, Maria

1998-01-01

Describes the absorbent mind as the manifestation of individual unconscious and as the unconscious forces manifested in nature's evolution. The natural creative unconscious directs the instinctive balance of nonhuman lives. Human consciousness creates a conscious, human-made universe, a cultural and technological zone, which evolves on its own…

Teaching Strategies to Increase Nursing Student Acceptance and Management of Unconscious Bias.

PubMed

Schultz, Paula L; Baker, Janet

2017-11-01

Medical providers' unconscious biases may contribute to health disparities. Awareness and self-reflection strategies commonly used to teach cultural competence in academic settings are generally ineffective in reducing unconscious bias or motivating change. This article describes the innovative teaching strategies implemented in a graduate setting (N = 75) to increase nursing learners' acceptance and management of unconscious bias. Strategies used guided the debriefing and feedback that incorporated implicit association testing, interactive audience polling, categorized management strategies, and perspective taking. Strategies resulted in positive learner feedback, including a high likelihood to learn more about unconscious bias, acceptance of unconscious bias influence on health disparities, and importance of using management strategies to address personal bias. Increasingly diverse patient populations require nurses who have the skills to understand, assess, and correct unconscious biases. To accomplish this goal, consistent exposure to unconscious bias curricula that includes focused debriefing, feedback, and management strategies is needed at all levels of nursing education. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(11):692-696.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Role of Network Science in the Study of Anesthetic State Transitions.

PubMed

Lee, UnCheol; Mashour, George A

2018-04-23

The heterogeneity of molecular mechanisms, target neural circuits, and neurophysiologic effects of general anesthetics makes it difficult to develop a reliable and drug-invariant index of general anesthesia. No single brain region or mechanism has been identified as the neural correlate of consciousness, suggesting that consciousness might emerge through complex interactions of spatially and temporally distributed brain functions. The goal of this review article is to introduce the basic concepts of networks and explain why the application of network science to general anesthesia could be a pathway to discover a fundamental mechanism of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. This article reviews data suggesting that reduced network efficiency, constrained network repertoires, and changes in cortical dynamics create inhospitable conditions for information processing and transfer, which lead to unconsciousness. This review proposes that network science is not just a useful tool but a necessary theoretical framework and method to uncover common principles of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness.

Consciousness and working memory: Current trends and research perspectives.

PubMed

Velichkovsky, Boris B

2017-10-01

Working memory has long been thought to be closely related to consciousness. However, recent empirical studies show that unconscious content may be maintained within working memory and that complex cognitive computations may be performed on-line. This promotes research on the exact relationships between consciousness and working memory. Current evidence for working memory being a conscious as well as an unconscious process is reviewed. Consciousness is shown to be considered a subset of working memory by major current theories of working memory. Evidence for unconscious elements in working memory is shown to come from visual masking and attentional blink paradigms, and from the studies of implicit working memory. It is concluded that more research is needed to explicate the relationship between consciousness and working memory. Future research directions regarding the relationship between consciousness and working memory are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Non-Attended Representations are Perceptual Rather than Unconscious in Nature

PubMed Central

Fahrenfort, Johannes J.; Ambroziak, Klaudia B.; Lamme, Victor A. F.

2012-01-01

Introspectively we experience a phenomenally rich world. In stark contrast, many studies show that we can only report on the few items that we happen to attend to. So what happens to the unattended objects? Are these consciously processed as our first person perspective would have us believe, or are they – in fact – entirely unconscious? Here, we attempt to resolve this question by investigating the perceptual characteristics of visual sensory memory. Sensory memory is a fleeting, high-capacity form of memory that precedes attentional selection and working memory. We found that memory capacity benefits from figural information induced by the Kanizsa illusion. Importantly, this benefit was larger for sensory memory than for working memory and depended critically on the illusion, not on the stimulus configuration. This shows that pre-attentive sensory memory contains representations that have a genuinely perceptual nature, suggesting that non-attended representations are phenomenally experienced rather than unconscious. PMID:23209639

Think, blink or sleep on it? The impact of modes of thought on complex decision making.

PubMed

Newell, Ben R; Wong, Kwan Yao; Cheung, Jeremy C H; Rakow, Tim

2009-04-01

This paper examines controversial claims about the merit of "unconscious thought" for making complex decisions. In four experiments, participants were presented with complex decisions and were asked to choose the best option immediately, after a period of conscious deliberation, or after a period of distraction (said to encourage "unconscious thought processes"). In all experiments the majority of participants chose the option predicted by their own subjective attribute weighting scores, regardless of the mode of thought employed. There was little evidence for the superiority of choices made "unconsciously", but some evidence that conscious deliberation can lead to better choices. The final experiment suggested that the task is best conceptualized as one involving "online judgement" rather than one in which decisions are made after periods of deliberation or distraction. The results suggest that we should be cautious in accepting the advice to "stop thinking" about complex decisions.

Sensory empathy and enactment.

PubMed

Zanocco, Giorgio; De Marchi, Alessandra; Pozzi, Francesco

2006-02-01

The authors propose the concept of sensory empathy which emerges through contact between analyst and patient as they get in touch with an area concerning the primary bond. This area is not so much based on thoughts and fantasies as it is on physical sensations. Sensory empathy has to do with that instrument described by Freud as pertaining to the unconscious of any human, which enables one person to interpret unconscious communications of another person. The authors link this concept to that of enactment precisely because the latter concerns unconscious, early elements that fi nd in the act a fi rst meaningful expression. It involves both analyst and patient. In other words, the authors wish to emphasize the importance of the analytical process maintaining contact with that immense field of human interaction that can be defined as primary sensory area and which becomes intertwined with the evolution of affects. Clinical examples are provided to clarify these hypotheses.

General Anesthetics and Molecular Mechanisms of Unconsciousness

PubMed Central

Forman, Stuart A.; Chin, Victor A.

2013-01-01

General anesthetic agents are unique in clinical medicine, because they are the only drugs used to produce unconsciousness as a therapeutic goal. In contrast to older hypotheses that assumed all general anesthetics produce their central nervous system effects through a common mechanism, we outline evidence that general anesthesia represents a number of distinct pharmacological effects that are likely mediated by different neural circuits, and perhaps via different molecular targets. Within the context of this neurobiological framework, we review recent molecular pharmacological and transgenic animal studies. These studies reveal that different groups of general anesthetics, which can be discerned based on their clinical features, produce unconsciousness via distinct molecular targets and therefore via distinct mechanisms. We further postulate that different types of general anesthetics selectively disrupt different critical steps (perhaps in different neuronal circuits) in the processing of sensory information and memory that results in consciousness. PMID:18617817

Supervising the uncanny: the play within the play.

PubMed

Leader, Carol

2015-11-01

The writer offers a combined experience in analysis and the performing arts to explore uncanny aspects of the unconscious subtext of the patient's inner drama; subtext which can remain hidden from view in supervision. Freud and Jung's understanding of uncanny experience is considered together with a painting from medieval alchemy and Matte Blanco's conceptions concerning the symmetrical nature of unconscious process. Theatre and the work of the theatre director and actor in approaching the multidimensional aspects of a play are then introduced. Finally clinical case material from group supervision demonstrates how the 'theatre of therapy' and the work of the supervisory couple and group promote the emergence of a more authentic conscious asymmetrical response to the patient's 'script' that can break the 'spell' of the transference/countertransference relationship. This in turn brings meaning to the underlying and implicit 'stage directions' that the patient has been unconsciously communicating. © 2015, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

Only time will tell - why temporal information is essential for our neuroscientific understanding of semantics.

PubMed

Hauk, Olaf

2016-08-01

Theoretical developments about the nature of semantic representations and processes should be accompanied by a discussion of how these theories can be validated on the basis of empirical data. Here, I elaborate on the link between theory and empirical research, highlighting the need for temporal information in order to distinguish fundamental aspects of semantics. The generic point that fast cognitive processes demand fast measurement techniques has been made many times before, although arguably more often in the psychophysiological community than in the metabolic neuroimaging community. Many reviews on the neuroscience of semantics mostly or even exclusively focus on metabolic neuroimaging data. Following an analysis of semantics in terms of the representations and processes involved, I argue that fundamental theoretical debates about the neuroscience of semantics can only be concluded on the basis of data with sufficient temporal resolution. Any "semantic effect" may result from a conflation of long-term memory representations, retrieval and working memory processes, mental imagery, and episodic memory. This poses challenges for all neuroimaging modalities, but especially for those with low temporal resolution. It also throws doubt on the usefulness of contrasts between meaningful and meaningless stimuli, which may differ on a number of semantic and non-semantic dimensions. I will discuss the consequences of this analysis for research on the role of convergence zones or hubs and distributed modal brain networks, top-down modulation of task and context as well as interactivity between levels of the processing hierarchy, for example in the framework of predictive coding.

Neural correlates of semantic associations in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Sass, Katharina; Heim, Stefan; Sachs, Olga; Straube, Benjamin; Schneider, Frank; Habel, Ute; Kircher, Tilo

2014-03-01

Patients with schizophrenia have semantic processing disturbances leading to expressive language deficits (formal thought disorder). The underlying pathology has been related to alterations in the semantic network and its neural correlates. Moreover, crossmodal processing, an important aspect of communication, is impaired in schizophrenia. Here we investigated specific processing abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia with regard to modality and semantic distance in a semantic priming paradigm. Fourteen patients with schizophrenia and fourteen demographically matched controls made visual lexical decisions on successively presented word-pairs (SOA = 350 ms) with direct or indirect relations, unrelated word-pairs, and pseudoword-target stimuli during fMRI measurement. Stimuli were presented in a unimodal (visual) or crossmodal (auditory-visual) fashion. On the neural level, the effect of semantic relation indicated differences (patients > controls) within the right angular gyrus and precuneus. The effect of modality revealed differences (controls > patients) within the left superior frontal, middle temporal, inferior occipital, right angular gyri, and anterior cingulate cortex. Semantic distance (direct vs. indirect) induced distinct activations within the left middle temporal, fusiform gyrus, right precuneus, and thalamus with patients showing fewer differences between direct and indirect word-pairs. The results highlight aberrant priming-related brain responses in patients with schizophrenia. Enhanced activation for patients possibly reflects deficits in semantic processes that might be caused by a delayed and enhanced spread of activation within the semantic network. Modality-specific decreases of activation in patients might be related to impaired perceptual integration. Those deficits could induce and increase the prominent symptoms of schizophrenia like impaired speech processing.

Nonconscious semantic processing of emotional words modulates conscious access

PubMed Central

Gaillard, Raphaël; Del Cul, Antoine; Naccache, Lionel; Vinckier, Fabien; Cohen, Laurent; Dehaene, Stanislas

2006-01-01

Whether masked words can be processed at a semantic level remains a controversial issue in cognitive psychology. Although recent behavioral studies have demonstrated masked semantic priming for number words, attempts to generalize this finding to other categories of words have failed. Here, as an alternative to subliminal priming, we introduce a sensitive behavioral method to detect nonconscious semantic processing of words. The logic of this method consists of presenting words close to the threshold for conscious perception and examining whether their semantic content modulates performance in objective and subjective tasks. Our results disclose two independent sources of modulation of the threshold for access to consciousness. First, prior conscious perception of words increases the detection rate of the same words when they are subsequently presented with stronger masking. Second, the threshold for conscious access is lower for emotional words than for neutral ones, even for words that have not been previously consciously perceived, thus implying that written words can receive nonconscious semantic processing. PMID:16648261

A brain electrical signature of left-lateralized semantic activation from single words.

PubMed

Koppehele-Gossel, Judith; Schnuerch, Robert; Gibbons, Henning

2016-01-01

Lesion and imaging studies consistently indicate a left-lateralization of semantic language processing in human temporo-parietal cortex. Surprisingly, electrocortical measures, which allow a direct assessment of brain activity and the tracking of cognitive functions with millisecond precision, have not yet been used to capture this hemispheric lateralization, at least with respect to posterior portions of this effect. Using event-related potentials, we employed a simple single-word reading paradigm to compare neural activity during three tasks requiring different degrees of semantic processing. As expected, we were able to derive a simple temporo-parietal left-right asymmetry index peaking around 300ms into word processing that neatly tracks the degree of semantic activation. The validity of this measure in specifically capturing verbal semantic activation was further supported by a significant relation to verbal intelligence. We thus posit that it represents a promising tool to monitor verbal semantic processing in the brain with little technological effort and in a minimal experimental setup. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distinct neural substrates for semantic knowledge and naming in the temporoparietal network.

PubMed

Gesierich, Benno; Jovicich, Jorge; Riello, Marianna; Adriani, Michela; Monti, Alessia; Brentari, Valentina; Robinson, Simon D; Wilson, Stephen M; Fairhall, Scott L; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa

2012-10-01

Patients with anterior temporal lobe (ATL) lesions show semantic and lexical retrieval deficits, and the differential role of this area in the 2 processes is debated. Functional neuroimaging in healthy individuals has not clarified the matter because semantic and lexical processes usually occur simultaneously and automatically. Furthermore, the ATL is a region challenging for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) due to susceptibility artifacts, especially at high fields. In this study, we established an optimized ATL-sensitive fMRI acquisition protocol at 4 T and applied an event-related paradigm to study the identification (i.e., association of semantic biographical information) of celebrities, with and without the ability to retrieve their proper names. While semantic processing reliably activated the ATL, only more posterior areas in the left temporal and temporal-parietal junction were significantly modulated by covert lexical retrieval. These results suggest that within a temporoparietal network, the ATL is relatively more important for semantic processing, and posterior language regions are relatively more important for lexical retrieval.

Subliminal semantic priming in near absence of attention: A cursor motion study.

PubMed

Xiao, Kunchen; Yamauchi, Takashi

2015-12-15

The role of attention in subliminal semantic priming remains controversial: some researchers argue that attention is necessary for subliminal semantic priming, while others suggest that subliminal semantic processing is free from the influence of attention. The present study employs a cursor motion method to measure priming and evaluate the influence of attention. Specifically, by employing a semantic priming task developed by Naccache, Blandin, and Dehaene (2002), we investigate the extent to which top-down attention influences semantic priming. Results indicate that, consistent with the Naccache et al. (2002) results, attention facilitates priming. However, inconsistent with their theory, significant priming is still observed even in near absence of attention. We suggest that top-down attention helps but is not necessary for subliminal semantic processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prenatal Cocaine Exposure Impacts Language and Reading Into Late Adolescence: Behavioral and ERP Evidence.

PubMed

Landi, Nicole; Avery, Trey; Crowley, Michael J; Wu, Jia; Mayes, Linda

2017-01-01

Extant research documents impaired language among children with prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) relative to nondrug exposed (NDE) children, suggesting that cocaine alters development of neurobiological systems that support language. The current study examines behavioral and neural (electrophysiological) indices of language function in older adolescents. Specifically, we compare performance of PCE (N = 59) and NDE (N = 51) adolescents on a battery of cognitive and linguistic assessments that tap word reading, reading comprehension, semantic and grammatical processing, and IQ. In addition, we examine event related potential (ERP) responses in in a subset of these children across three experimental tasks that examine word level phonological processing (rhyme priming), word level semantic processing (semantic priming), and sentence level semantic processing (semantic anomaly). Findings reveal deficits across a number of reading and language assessments, after controlling for socioeconomic status and exposure to other substances. Additionally, ERP data reveal atypical orthography to phonology mapping (reduced N1/P2 response) and atypical rhyme and semantic processing (N400 response). These findings suggest that PCE continues to impact language and reading skills into the late teenage years.

The Yin and the Yang of Prediction: An fMRI Study of Semantic Predictive Processing

PubMed Central

Weber, Kirsten; Lau, Ellen F.; Stillerman, Benjamin; Kuperberg, Gina R.

2016-01-01

Probabilistic prediction plays a crucial role in language comprehension. When predictions are fulfilled, the resulting facilitation allows for fast, efficient processing of ambiguous, rapidly-unfolding input; when predictions are not fulfilled, the resulting error signal allows us to adapt to broader statistical changes in this input. We used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to examine the neuroanatomical networks engaged in semantic predictive processing and adaptation. We used a relatedness proportion semantic priming paradigm, in which we manipulated the probability of predictions while holding local semantic context constant. Under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity, we replicate previous observations of reduced activity to semantically predictable words in the left anterior superior/middle temporal cortex, reflecting facilitated processing of targets that are consistent with prior semantic predictions. In addition, under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity we observed significant differences in the effects of semantic relatedness within the left inferior frontal gyrus and the posterior portion of the left superior/middle temporal gyrus. We suggest that together these two regions mediated the suppression of unfulfilled semantic predictions and lexico-semantic processing of unrelated targets that were inconsistent with these predictions. Moreover, under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity, a functional connectivity analysis showed that the left inferior frontal and left posterior superior/middle temporal gyrus were more tightly interconnected with one another, as well as with the left anterior cingulate cortex. The left anterior cingulate cortex was, in turn, more tightly connected to superior lateral frontal cortices and subcortical regions—a network that mediates rapid learning and adaptation and that may have played a role in switching to a more predictive mode of processing in response to the statistical structure of the wider environmental context. Together, these findings highlight close links between the networks mediating semantic prediction, executive function and learning, giving new insights into how our brains are able to flexibly adapt to our environment. PMID:27010386

The Yin and the Yang of Prediction: An fMRI Study of Semantic Predictive Processing.

PubMed

Weber, Kirsten; Lau, Ellen F; Stillerman, Benjamin; Kuperberg, Gina R

2016-01-01

Probabilistic prediction plays a crucial role in language comprehension. When predictions are fulfilled, the resulting facilitation allows for fast, efficient processing of ambiguous, rapidly-unfolding input; when predictions are not fulfilled, the resulting error signal allows us to adapt to broader statistical changes in this input. We used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to examine the neuroanatomical networks engaged in semantic predictive processing and adaptation. We used a relatedness proportion semantic priming paradigm, in which we manipulated the probability of predictions while holding local semantic context constant. Under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity, we replicate previous observations of reduced activity to semantically predictable words in the left anterior superior/middle temporal cortex, reflecting facilitated processing of targets that are consistent with prior semantic predictions. In addition, under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity we observed significant differences in the effects of semantic relatedness within the left inferior frontal gyrus and the posterior portion of the left superior/middle temporal gyrus. We suggest that together these two regions mediated the suppression of unfulfilled semantic predictions and lexico-semantic processing of unrelated targets that were inconsistent with these predictions. Moreover, under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity, a functional connectivity analysis showed that the left inferior frontal and left posterior superior/middle temporal gyrus were more tightly interconnected with one another, as well as with the left anterior cingulate cortex. The left anterior cingulate cortex was, in turn, more tightly connected to superior lateral frontal cortices and subcortical regions-a network that mediates rapid learning and adaptation and that may have played a role in switching to a more predictive mode of processing in response to the statistical structure of the wider environmental context. Together, these findings highlight close links between the networks mediating semantic prediction, executive function and learning, giving new insights into how our brains are able to flexibly adapt to our environment.

Dissociating the semantic function of two neighbouring subregions in the left lateral anterior temporal lobe

PubMed Central

Sanjuán, Ana; Hope, Thomas M.H.; Parker Jones, 'Ōiwi; Prejawa, Susan; Oberhuber, Marion; Guerin, Julie; Seghier, Mohamed L.; Green, David W.; Price, Cathy J.

2015-01-01

We used fMRI in 35 healthy participants to investigate how two neighbouring subregions in the lateral anterior temporal lobe (LATL) contribute to semantic matching and object naming. Four different levels of processing were considered: (A) recognition of the object concepts; (B) search for semantic associations related to object stimuli; (C) retrieval of semantic concepts of interest; and (D) retrieval of stimulus specific concepts as required for naming. During semantic association matching on picture stimuli or heard object names, we found that activation in both subregions was higher when the objects were semantically related (mug–kettle) than unrelated (car–teapot). This is consistent with both LATL subregions playing a role in (C), the successful retrieval of amodal semantic concepts. In addition, one subregion was more activated for object naming than matching semantically related objects, consistent with (D), the retrieval of a specific concept for naming. We discuss the implications of these novel findings for cognitive models of semantic processing and left anterior temporal lobe function. PMID:25496810

Automatic Semantic Facilitation in Anterior Temporal Cortex Revealed through Multimodal Neuroimaging

PubMed Central

Gramfort, Alexandre; Hämäläinen, Matti S.; Kuperberg, Gina R.

2013-01-01

A core property of human semantic processing is the rapid, facilitatory influence of prior input on extracting the meaning of what comes next, even under conditions of minimal awareness. Previous work has shown a number of neurophysiological indices of this facilitation, but the mapping between time course and localization—critical for separating automatic semantic facilitation from other mechanisms—has thus far been unclear. In the current study, we used a multimodal imaging approach to isolate early, bottom-up effects of context on semantic memory, acquiring a combination of electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements in the same individuals with a masked semantic priming paradigm. Across techniques, the results provide a strikingly convergent picture of early automatic semantic facilitation. Event-related potentials demonstrated early sensitivity to semantic association between 300 and 500 ms; MEG localized the differential neural response within this time window to the left anterior temporal cortex, and fMRI localized the effect more precisely to the left anterior superior temporal gyrus, a region previously implicated in semantic associative processing. However, fMRI diverged from early EEG/MEG measures in revealing semantic enhancement effects within frontal and parietal regions, perhaps reflecting downstream attempts to consciously access the semantic features of the masked prime. Together, these results provide strong evidence that automatic associative semantic facilitation is realized as reduced activity within the left anterior superior temporal cortex between 300 and 500 ms after a word is presented, and emphasize the importance of multimodal neuroimaging approaches in distinguishing the contributions of multiple regions to semantic processing. PMID:24155321

Facilitation and interference in naming: A consequence of the same learning process?

PubMed

Hughes, Julie W; Schnur, Tatiana T

2017-08-01

Our success with naming depends on what we have named previously, a phenomenon thought to reflect learning processes. Repeatedly producing the same name facilitates language production (i.e., repetition priming), whereas producing semantically related names hinders subsequent performance (i.e., semantic interference). Semantic interference is found whether naming categorically related items once (continuous naming) or multiple times (blocked cyclic naming). A computational model suggests that the same learning mechanism responsible for facilitation in repetition creates semantic interference in categorical naming (Oppenheim, Dell, & Schwartz, 2010). Accordingly, we tested the predictions that variability in semantic interference is correlated across categorical naming tasks and is caused by learning, as measured by two repetition priming tasks (picture-picture repetition priming, Exp. 1; definition-picture repetition priming, Exp. 2, e.g., Wheeldon & Monsell, 1992). In Experiment 1 (77 subjects) semantic interference and repetition priming effects were robust, but the results revealed no relationship between semantic interference effects across contexts. Critically, learning (picture-picture repetition priming) did not predict semantic interference effects in either task. We replicated these results in Experiment 2 (81 subjects), finding no relationship between semantic interference effects across tasks or between semantic interference effects and learning (definition-picture repetition priming). We conclude that the changes underlying facilitatory and interfering effects inherent to lexical access are the result of distinct learning processes where multiple mechanisms contribute to semantic interference in naming. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Shared Features Dominate Semantic Richness Effects for Concrete Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grondin, Ray; Lupker, Stephen J.; McRae, Ken

2009-01-01

When asked to list semantic features for concrete concepts, participants list many features for some concepts and few for others. Concepts with many semantic features are processed faster in lexical and semantic decision tasks [Pexman, P. M., Lupker, S. J., & Hino, Y. (2002). "The impact of feedback semantics in visual word recognition:…

Modulation of Task Demands Suggests That Semantic Processing Interferes with the Formation of Episodic Associations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Nicole M.; Kahana, Michael J.

2017-01-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of…

Retrieval and Monitoring Processes during Visual Working Memory: An ERP Study of the Benefit of Visual Semantics

PubMed Central

Orme, Elizabeth; Brown, Louise A.; Riby, Leigh M.

2017-01-01

In this study, we examined electrophysiological indices of episodic remembering whilst participants recalled novel shapes, with and without semantic content, within a visual working memory paradigm. The components of interest were the parietal episodic (PE; 400–800 ms) and late posterior negativity (LPN; 500–900 ms), as these have previously been identified as reliable markers of recollection and post-retrieval monitoring, respectively. Fifteen young adults completed a visual matrix patterns task, assessing memory for low and high semantic visual representations. Matrices with either low semantic or high semantic content (containing familiar visual forms) were briefly presented to participants for study (1500 ms), followed by a retention interval (6000 ms) and finally a same/different recognition phase. The event-related potentials of interest were tracked from the onset of the recognition test stimuli. Analyses revealed equivalent amplitude for the earlier PE effect for the processing of both low and high semantic stimulus types. However, the LPN was more negative-going for the processing of the low semantic stimuli. These data are discussed in terms of relatively ‘pure’ and complete retrieval of high semantic items, where support can readily be recruited from semantic memory. However, for the low semantic items additional executive resources, as indexed by the LPN, are recruited when memory monitoring and uncertainty exist in order to recall previously studied items more effectively. PMID:28725203

Retrieval and Monitoring Processes during Visual Working Memory: An ERP Study of the Benefit of Visual Semantics.

PubMed

Orme, Elizabeth; Brown, Louise A; Riby, Leigh M

2017-01-01

In this study, we examined electrophysiological indices of episodic remembering whilst participants recalled novel shapes, with and without semantic content, within a visual working memory paradigm. The components of interest were the parietal episodic (PE; 400-800 ms) and late posterior negativity (LPN; 500-900 ms), as these have previously been identified as reliable markers of recollection and post-retrieval monitoring, respectively. Fifteen young adults completed a visual matrix patterns task, assessing memory for low and high semantic visual representations. Matrices with either low semantic or high semantic content (containing familiar visual forms) were briefly presented to participants for study (1500 ms), followed by a retention interval (6000 ms) and finally a same/different recognition phase. The event-related potentials of interest were tracked from the onset of the recognition test stimuli. Analyses revealed equivalent amplitude for the earlier PE effect for the processing of both low and high semantic stimulus types. However, the LPN was more negative-going for the processing of the low semantic stimuli. These data are discussed in terms of relatively 'pure' and complete retrieval of high semantic items, where support can readily be recruited from semantic memory. However, for the low semantic items additional executive resources, as indexed by the LPN, are recruited when memory monitoring and uncertainty exist in order to recall previously studied items more effectively.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of word retrieval in speech production revealed by cortical high-frequency band activity.

PubMed

Riès, Stephanie K; Dhillon, Rummit K; Clarke, Alex; King-Stephens, David; Laxer, Kenneth D; Weber, Peter B; Kuperman, Rachel A; Auguste, Kurtis I; Brunner, Peter; Schalk, Gerwin; Lin, Jack J; Parvizi, Josef; Crone, Nathan E; Dronkers, Nina F; Knight, Robert T

2017-06-06

Word retrieval is core to language production and relies on complementary processes: the rapid activation of lexical and conceptual representations and word selection, which chooses the correct word among semantically related competitors. Lexical and conceptual activation is measured by semantic priming. In contrast, word selection is indexed by semantic interference and is hampered in semantically homogeneous (HOM) contexts. We examined the spatiotemporal dynamics of these complementary processes in a picture naming task with blocks of semantically heterogeneous (HET) or HOM stimuli. We used electrocorticography data obtained from frontal and temporal cortices, permitting detailed spatiotemporal analysis of word retrieval processes. A semantic interference effect was observed with naming latencies longer in HOM versus HET blocks. Cortical response strength as indexed by high-frequency band (HFB) activity (70-150 Hz) amplitude revealed effects linked to lexical-semantic activation and word selection observed in widespread regions of the cortical mantle. Depending on the subsecond timing and cortical region, HFB indexed semantic interference (i.e., more activity in HOM than HET blocks) or semantic priming effects (i.e., more activity in HET than HOM blocks). These effects overlapped in time and space in the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and the left prefrontal cortex. The data do not support a modular view of word retrieval in speech production but rather support substantial overlap of lexical-semantic activation and word selection mechanisms in the brain.

Evidence for degraded low frequency verbal concepts in left resected temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

PubMed

Visser, M; Forn, C; Lambon Ralph, M A; Hoffman, P; Gómez Ibáñez, A; Sunajuán, Ana; Rosell Negre, P; Villanueva, V; Ávila, C

2018-06-01

According to a large neuropsychological and neuroimaging literature, the bilateral anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is a core region for semantic processing. It seems therefore surprising that semantic memory appears to be preserved in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients with unilateral ATL resection. However, recent work suggests that the bilateral semantic system is relatively robust against unilateral damage and semantic impairments under these circumstances only become apparent with low frequency specific concepts. In addition, neuroimaging studies have shown that the function of the left and right ATLs differ and therefore left or right ATL resection should lead to a different pattern of impairment. The current study investigated hemispheric differences in the bilateral semantic system by comparing left and right resected TLE patients during verbal semantic processing of low frequency concepts. Picture naming and semantic comprehension tasks with varying word frequencies were included to investigate the pattern of impairment. Left but not right TLE patients showed impaired semantic processing, which was particularly apparent on low frequency items. This indicates that, for verbal information, the bilateral semantic system is more sensitive to damage in the left compared to the right ATL, which is in line with theories that attribute a more prominent role to the left ATL due to connections with pre-semantic verbal regions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How and When Accentuation Influences Temporally Selective Attention and Subsequent Semantic Processing during On-Line Spoken Language Comprehension: An ERP Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Xiao-qing; Ren, Gui-qin

2012-01-01

An event-related brain potentials (ERP) experiment was carried out to investigate how and when accentuation influences temporally selective attention and subsequent semantic processing during on-line spoken language comprehension, and how the effect of accentuation on attention allocation and semantic processing changed with the degree of…

Recruitment of Anterior and Posterior Structures in Lexical-Semantic Processing: An fMRI Study Comparing Implicit and Explicit Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruff, Ilana; Blumstein, Sheila E.; Myers, Emily B.; Hutchison, Emmette

2008-01-01

Previous studies examining explicit semantic processing have consistently shown activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In contrast, implicit semantic processing tasks have shown activation in posterior areas including the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) with less consistent activation in the IFG.…

When "Happy" Means "Sad": Neuropsychological Evidence for the Right Prefrontal Cortex Contribution to Executive Semantic Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samson, Dana; Connolly, Catherine; Humphreys, Glyn W.

2007-01-01

The contribution of the left inferior prefrontal cortex in semantic processing has been widely investigated in the last decade. Converging evidence from functional imaging studies shows that this region is involved in the "executive" or "controlled" aspects of semantic processing. In this study, we report a single case study of a patient, PW, with…

Towards Semantic Modelling of Business Processes for Networked Enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furdík, Karol; Mach, Marián; Sabol, Tomáš

The paper presents an approach to the semantic modelling and annotation of business processes and information resources, as it was designed within the FP7 ICT EU project SPIKE to support creation and maintenance of short-term business alliances and networked enterprises. A methodology for the development of the resource ontology, as a shareable knowledge model for semantic description of business processes, is proposed. Systematically collected user requirements, conceptual models implied by the selected implementation platform as well as available ontology resources and standards are employed in the ontology creation. The process of semantic annotation is described and illustrated using an example taken from a real application case.

Argumentation and the Unconscious.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hample, Dale

Noting that--although explicit attention to the unconscious has been rare in argument theories--the notion is unavoidable in any full theory, this paper argues that the unconscious plays a central role in argumentation. After briefly discussing the characteristics of the unconscious, the first section of the paper presents an analysis of…

Acoustic and semantic interference effects in words and pictures.

PubMed

Dhawan, M; Pellegrino, J W

1977-05-01

Interference effects for pictures and words were investigated using a probe-recall task. Word stimuli showed acoustic interference effects for items at the end of the list and semantic interference effects for items at the beginning of the list, similar to results of Kintsch and Buschke (1969). Picture stimuli showed large semantic interference effects at all list positions with smaller acoustic interference effects. The results were related to latency data on picture-word processing and interpreted in terms of the differential order, probability, and/or speed of access to acoustic and semantic levels of processing. A levels of processing explanation of picture-word retention differences was related to dual coding theory. Both theoretical positions converge on an explanation of picture-word retention differences as a function of the relative capacity for semantic or associative processing.

The semantic distance task: Quantifying semantic distance with semantic network path length.

PubMed

Kenett, Yoed N; Levi, Effi; Anaki, David; Faust, Miriam

2017-09-01

Semantic distance is a determining factor in cognitive processes, such as semantic priming, operating upon semantic memory. The main computational approach to compute semantic distance is through latent semantic analysis (LSA). However, objections have been raised against this approach, mainly in its failure at predicting semantic priming. We propose a novel approach to computing semantic distance, based on network science methodology. Path length in a semantic network represents the amount of steps needed to traverse from 1 word in the network to the other. We examine whether path length can be used as a measure of semantic distance, by investigating how path length affect performance in a semantic relatedness judgment task and recall from memory. Our results show a differential effect on performance: Up to 4 steps separating between word-pairs, participants exhibit an increase in reaction time (RT) and decrease in the percentage of word-pairs judged as related. From 4 steps onward, participants exhibit a significant decrease in RT and the word-pairs are dominantly judged as unrelated. Furthermore, we show that as path length between word-pairs increases, success in free- and cued-recall decreases. Finally, we demonstrate how our measure outperforms computational methods measuring semantic distance (LSA and positive pointwise mutual information) in predicting participants RT and subjective judgments of semantic strength. Thus, we provide a computational alternative to computing semantic distance. Furthermore, this approach addresses key issues in cognitive theory, namely the breadth of the spreading activation process and the effect of semantic distance on memory retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Imageability and semantic association in the representation and processing of event verbs.

PubMed

Xu, Xu; Kang, Chunyan; Guo, Taomei

2016-05-01

This study examined the relative salience of imageability (the degree to which a word evokes mental imagery) versus semantic association (the density of semantic network in which a word is embedded) in the representation and processing of four types of event verbs: sensory, cognitive, speech, and motor verbs. ERP responses were recorded, while 34 university students performed on a lexical decision task. Analysis focused primarily on amplitude differences across verb conditions within the N400 time window where activities are considered representing meaning activation. Variation in N400 amplitude across four types of verbs was found significantly associated with the level of imageability, but not the level of semantic association. The findings suggest imageability as a more salient factor relative to semantic association in the processing of these verbs. The role of semantic association and the representation of speech verbs are also discussed.

Unconscious Desire: The Affective and Motivational Aspects of Subliminal Sexual Priming.

PubMed

Gillath, Omri; Collins, Tara

2016-01-01

Sexual arousal is thought to be the result of the processing of sexual cues at two levels: conscious and unconscious. Whereas numerous studies have examined the affective and motivational responses to supraliminal (consciously processed) sexual cues, much less is known regarding the responses to subliminal (processed outside of one's awareness) sexual cues. Five studies examined responses to subliminal sexual cues. Studies 1–3 demonstrated increases in adults' positive affect following exposure to subliminal sexual cues compared to control cues. Study 4 demonstrated that the positive affect resulting from exposure to subliminal sexual cues increased motivation to further engage in a neutral task. Study 5 provided evidence suggesting that the affect and motivation found in Studies 1–4 were associated with motivation to engage in sex specifically, rather than a general approach motivation. The implications of these findings for the processing of subliminal sexual cues and for human sexuality are discussed.

Another look at dreaming: disentangling Freud's primary and secondary process theories.

PubMed

Robbins, Michael

2004-01-01

The Interpretation of Dreams contains Freud's first and most complete articulation of the primary and secondary mental processes that serve as a framework for the workings of mind, conscious and unconscious. While it is generally believed that Freud proposed a single theory of dreaming, based on the primary process, a number of ambiguities, inconsistencies, and contradictions reflect an incomplete differentiation of the parts played by the two mental processes in dreaming. It is proposed that two radically different hypotheses about dreaming are embedded in Freud's work. The one implicit in classical dream interpretation is based on the assumption that dreams, like waking language, are representational, and are made up of symbols connected to latent unconscious thoughts. Whereas the symbols that constitute waking language are largely verbal and only partly unconscious, those that constitute dreams are presumably more thoroughly disguised and represented as arcane hallucinated hieroglyphs. From this perspective, both the language of the dream and that of waking life are secondary process manifestations. Interpretation of the dream using the secondary process model involves the assumption of a linear two-way "road" connecting manifest and latent aspects, which in one direction involves the work of dream construction and in the other permits the associative process of decoding and interpretation. Freud's more revolutionary hypothesis, whose implications he did not fully elaborate, is that dreams are the expression of a primary mental process that differs qualitatively from waking thought and hence are incomprehensible through a secondary process model. This seems more adequately to account for what is now known about dreaming, and is more consistent with the way dream interpretation is ordinarily conducted in clinical practice. Recognition that dreams are qualitatively distinctive expressions of mind may help to restore dreaming to its privileged position as a unique source of mental status information.

Action and semantic tool knowledge - Effective connectivity in the underlying neural networks.

PubMed

Kleineberg, Nina N; Dovern, Anna; Binder, Ellen; Grefkes, Christian; Eickhoff, Simon B; Fink, Gereon R; Weiss, Peter H

2018-04-26

Evidence from neuropsychological and imaging studies indicate that action and semantic knowledge about tools draw upon distinct neural substrates, but little is known about the underlying interregional effective connectivity. With fMRI and dynamic causal modeling (DCM) we investigated effective connectivity in the left-hemisphere (LH) while subjects performed (i) a function knowledge and (ii) a value knowledge task, both addressing semantic tool knowledge, and (iii) a manipulation (action) knowledge task. Overall, the results indicate crosstalk between action nodes and semantic nodes. Interestingly, effective connectivity was weakened between semantic nodes and action nodes during the manipulation task. Furthermore, pronounced modulations of effective connectivity within the fronto-parietal action system of the LH (comprising lateral occipito-temporal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, supramarginal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus) were observed in a bidirectional manner during the processing of action knowledge. In contrast, the function and value knowledge tasks resulted in a significant strengthening of the effective connectivity between visual cortex and fusiform gyrus. Importantly, this modulation was present in both semantic tasks, indicating that processing different aspects of semantic knowledge about tools evokes similar effective connectivity patterns. Data revealed that interregional effective connectivity during the processing of tool knowledge occurred in a bidirectional manner with a weakening of connectivity between areas engaged in action and semantic knowledge about tools during the processing of action knowledge. Moreover, different semantic tool knowledge tasks elicited similar effective connectivity patterns. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effect of Pinyin Input Experience on the Link Between Semantic and Phonology of Chinese Character in Digital Writing.

PubMed

Chen, Jingjun; Luo, Rong; Liu, Huashan

2017-08-01

With the development of ICT, digital writing is becoming much more common in people's life. Differently from keyboarding alphabets directly to input English words, keyboarding Chinese character is always through typing phonetic alphabets and then identify the glyph provided by Pinyin input-method software while in this process which do not need users to produce orthography spelling, thus it is different from traditional written language production model based on handwriting process. Much of the research in this domain has found that using Pinyin input method is beneficial to Chinese characters recognition, but only a small part explored the effects of individual's Pinyin input experience on the Chinese characters production process. We ask whether using Pinyin input-method will strengthen the semantic-phonology linkage or semantic-orthography linkage in Chinese character mental lexicon. Through recording the RT and accuracy of participants completing semantic-syllable and semantic-glyph consistency judgments, the results found the accuracy of semantic-syllable consistency judgments in high Pinyin input experienced group was higher than that in low-experienced group, and RT was reversed. There were no significant differences on semantic-glyph consistency judgments between the two groups. We conclude that using Pinyin input method in Chinese digital writing can strengthen the semantic-phonology linkage while do not weakening the semantic-orthography linkage in mental lexicon at the same time, which means that Pinyin input method is beneficial to lexical processing involving Chinese cognition.

The influence of speech rate and accent on access and use of semantic information.

PubMed

Sajin, Stanislav M; Connine, Cynthia M

2017-04-01

Circumstances in which the speech input is presented in sub-optimal conditions generally lead to processing costs affecting spoken word recognition. The current study indicates that some processing demands imposed by listening to difficult speech can be mitigated by feedback from semantic knowledge. A set of lexical decision experiments examined how foreign accented speech and word duration impact access to semantic knowledge in spoken word recognition. Results indicate that when listeners process accented speech, the reliance on semantic information increases. Speech rate was not observed to influence semantic access, except in the setting in which unusually slow accented speech was presented. These findings support interactive activation models of spoken word recognition in which attention is modulated based on speech demands.

The effects of gender and self-insight on early semantic processing.

PubMed

Xu, Xu; Kang, Chunyan; Guo, Taomei

2014-01-01

This event-related potential (ERP) study explored individual differences associated with gender and level of self-insight in early semantic processing. Forty-eight Chinese native speakers completed a semantic judgment task with three different categories of words: abstract neutral words (e.g., logic, effect), concrete neutral words (e.g., teapot, table), and emotion words (e.g., despair, guilt). They then assessed their levels of self-insight. Results showed that women engaged in greater processing than did men. Gender differences also manifested in the relationship between level of self-insight and word processing. For women, level of self-insight was associated with level of semantic activation for emotion words and abstract neutral words, but not for concrete neutral words. For men, level of self-insight was related to processing speed, particularly in response to abstract and concrete neutral words. These findings provide electrophysiological evidence for the effects of gender and self-insight on semantic processing and highlight the need to take into consideration subject variables in related research.

Aberrant semantic and affective processing in people at risk for psychosis.

PubMed

Kerns, J G; Berenbaum, H

2000-11-01

Semantic and affective processing were examined in people at risk for psychosis. The participants were 3 groups of college students: 41 people with elevated Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation (PerMag) scores, 18 people with elevated Social Anhedonia (SocAnh) scores, and 100 control participants. Participants completed a single-word, continuous presentation pronunciation task that included semantically related words, affectively valenced words, and semantically unrelated and affectively neutral words. PerMag participants exhibited increased semantic priming and increased sensitivity to affectively valenced primes. SocAnh participants had increased sensitivity to affectively valenced targets.

Levels of Processing and the Cue-Dependent Nature of Recollection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulligan, Neil W.; Picklesimer, Milton

2012-01-01

Dual-process models differentiate between two bases of memory, recollection and familiarity. It is routinely claimed that deeper, semantic encoding enhances recollection relative to shallow, non-semantic encoding, and that recollection is largely a product of semantic, elaborative rehearsal. The present experiments show that this is not always the…

Orthographic and Semantic Processing in Young Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polse, Lara R.; Reilly, Judy S.

2015-01-01

This investigation examined orthographic and semantic processing during reading acquisition. Children in first to fourth grade were presented with a target word and two response alternatives, and were asked to identify the semantic match. Words were presented in four conditions: an exact match and unrelated foil (STONE-STONE-EARS), an exact match…

Disentangling Linguistic Modality Effects in Semantic Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moita, Mara; Nunes, Maria Vânia

2017-01-01

Sensory systems are essential for perceiving and conceptualizing our semantic knowledge about the world and the way we interact with it. Despite studies reporting neural changes to compensate for the absence of a given sensory modality, studies focusing on the assessment of semantic processing reveal poor performances by deaf individuals when…

Hemispheric Differences in the Recruitment of Semantic Processing Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kandhadai, Padmapriya; Federmeier, Kara D.

2010-01-01

This study examined how the two cerebral hemispheres recruit semantic processing mechanisms by combining event-related potential measures and visual half-field methods in a word priming paradigm in which semantic strength and predictability were manipulated using lexically associated word pairs. Activation patterns on the late positive complex…

Semantics Does Not Need a Processing License from Syntax in Reading Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Yaxu; Yu, Jing; Boland, Julie E.

2010-01-01

Two event-related brain potential experiments were conducted to investigate whether there is a functional primacy of syntactic structure building over semantic processes during Chinese sentence reading. In both experiments, we found that semantic interpretation proceeded despite the impossibility of a well-formed syntactic analysis. In Experiment…

Sentence Processing in High Proficient Kannada--English Bilinguals: A Reaction Time Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravi, Sunil Kumar; Chengappa, Shyamala K.

2015-01-01

The present study aimed at exploring the semantic and syntactic processing differences between native and second languages in 20 early high proficient Kannada--English bilingual adults through accuracy and reaction time (RT) measurements. Subjects participated in a semantic judgement task (using 50 semantically correct and 50 semantically…

The role of unconscious bias in surgical safety and outcomes.

PubMed

Santry, Heena P; Wren, Sherry M

2012-02-01

Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in health outcomes are a major challenge for the US health care system. Although the causes of these disparities are multifactorial, unconscious bias on the part of health care providers plays a role. Unconscious bias occurs when subconscious prejudicial beliefs about stereotypical individual attributes result in an automatic and unconscious reaction and/or behavior based on those beliefs. This article reviews the evidence in support of unconscious bias and resultant disparate health outcomes. Although unconscious bias cannot be entirely eliminated, acknowledging it, encouraging empathy, and understanding patients' sociocultural context promotes just, equitable, and compassionate care to all patients. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting soccer matches after unconscious and conscious thought as a function of expertise.

PubMed

Dijksterhuis, Ap; Bos, Maarten W; van der Leij, Andries; van Baaren, Rick B

2009-11-01

In two experiments, we investigated the effects of expertise and mode of thought on the accuracy of people's predictions. Both experts and nonexperts predicted the results of soccer matches after conscious thought, after unconscious thought, or immediately. In Experiment 1, experts who thought unconsciously outperformed participants in all other conditions. Whereas unconscious thinkers showed a correlation between expertise and accuracy of prediction, no such relation was observed for conscious thinkers or for immediate decision makers. In Experiment 2, this general pattern was replicated. In addition, experts who thought unconsciously were better at applying diagnostic information than experts who thought consciously or who decided immediately. The results are consistent with unconscious-thought theory.

Lexical decision with pseudohomophones and reading in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia: A double dissociation.

PubMed

Boukadi, Mariem; Potvin, Karel; Macoir, Joël; Jr Laforce, Robert; Poulin, Stéphane; Brambati, Simona M; Wilson, Maximiliano A

2016-06-01

The co-occurrence of semantic impairment and surface dyslexia in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) has often been taken as supporting evidence for the central role of semantics in visual word processing. According to connectionist models, semantic access is needed to accurately read irregular words. They also postulate that reliance on semantics is necessary to perform the lexical decision task under certain circumstances (for example, when the stimulus list comprises pseudohomophones). In the present study, we report two svPPA cases: M.F. who presented with surface dyslexia but performed accurately on the lexical decision task with pseudohomophones, and R.L. who showed no surface dyslexia but performed below the normal range on the lexical decision task with pseudohomophones. This double dissociation between reading and lexical decision with pseudohomophones is in line with the dual-route cascaded (DRC) model of reading. According to this model, impairments in visual word processing in svPPA are not necessarily associated with the semantic deficits characterizing this disease. Our findings also call into question the central role given to semantics in visual word processing within the connectionist account. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mapping the connectivity underlying multimodal (verbal and non-verbal) semantic processing: a brain electrostimulation study.

PubMed

Moritz-Gasser, Sylvie; Herbet, Guillaume; Duffau, Hugues

2013-08-01

Accessing the meaning of words, objects, people and facts is a human ability, made possible thanks to semantic processing. Although studies concerning its cortical organization are proficient, the subcortical connectivity underlying this semantic network received less attention. We used intraoperative direct electrostimulation, which mimics a transient virtual lesion during brain surgery for glioma in eight awaken patients, to map the anatomical white matter substrate subserving the semantic system. Patients performed a picture naming task and a non-verbal semantic association test during the electrical mapping. Direct electrostimulation of the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle, a poorly known ventral association pathway which runs throughout the brain, induced in all cases semantic disturbances. These transient disorders were highly reproducible, and concerned verbal as well as non-verbal output. Our results highlight for the first time the essential role of the left inferior fronto-occipital fascicle in multimodal (and not only in verbal) semantic processing. On the basis of these original findings, and in the lights of phylogenetic considerations regarding this fascicle, we suggest its possible implication in the monitoring of the human level of consciousness related to semantic memory, namely noetic consciousness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human learning and memory.

PubMed

Johnson, M K; Hasher, L

1987-01-01

There have been several notable recent trends in the area of learning and memory. Problems with the episodic/semantic distinction have become more apparent, and new efforts have been made (exemplar models, distributed-memory models) to represent general knowledge without assuming a separate semantic system. Less emphasis is being placed on stable, prestored prototypes and more emphasis on a flexible memory system that provides the basis for a multitude of categories or frames of reference, derived on the spot as tasks demand. There is increasing acceptance of the idea that mental models are constructed and stored in memory in addition to, rather than instead of, memorial representations that are more closely tied to perceptions. This gives rise to questions concerning the conditions that permit inferences to be drawn and mental models to be constructed, and to questions concerning the similarities and differences in the nature of the representations in memory of perceived and generated information and in their functions. There has also been a swing from interest in deliberate strategies to interest in automatic, unconscious (even mechanistic!) processes, reflecting an appreciation that certain situations (e.g. recognition, frequency judgements, savings in indirect tasks, aspects of skill acquisition, etc) seem not to depend much on the products of strategic, effortful or reflective processes. There is a lively interest in relations among memory measures and attempts to characterize memory representations and/or processes that could give rise to dissociations among measures. Whether the pattern of results reflects the operation of functional subsystems of memory and, if so, what the "modules" are is far from clear. This issue has been fueled by work with amnesics and has contributed to a revival of interaction between researchers studying learning and memory in humans and those studying learning and memory in animals. Thus, neuroscience rivals computer science as a source of interdisciplinary stimulation. Research on topics such as memory for spatial location, the relation between memory and affect, and autobiographical memory reminds us that general theories of memory based on studies of verbal materials alone are limited. Investigating how people remember complex natural events should provide us with a larger set of memory phenomena to explain and consequently insight into a wider range of memory principles or a deeper understanding of the ones we already accept (e.g. the role of repetition, encoding specificity), including their functional significance for human behavior.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The Influence of Semantic Neighbours on Visual Word Recognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Mark

2012-01-01

Although it is assumed that semantics is a critical component of visual word recognition, there is still much that we do not understand. One recent way of studying semantic processing has been in terms of semantic neighbourhood (SN) density, and this research has shown that semantic neighbours facilitate lexical decisions. However, it is not clear…

Enhanced subliminal emotional responses to dynamic facial expressions.

PubMed

Sato, Wataru; Kubota, Yasutaka; Toichi, Motomi

2014-01-01

Emotional processing without conscious awareness plays an important role in human social interaction. Several behavioral studies reported that subliminal presentation of photographs of emotional facial expressions induces unconscious emotional processing. However, it was difficult to elicit strong and robust effects using this method. We hypothesized that dynamic presentations of facial expressions would enhance subliminal emotional effects and tested this hypothesis with two experiments. Fearful or happy facial expressions were presented dynamically or statically in either the left or the right visual field for 20 (Experiment 1) and 30 (Experiment 2) ms. Nonsense target ideographs were then presented, and participants reported their preference for them. The results consistently showed that dynamic presentations of emotional facial expressions induced more evident emotional biases toward subsequent targets than did static ones. These results indicate that dynamic presentations of emotional facial expressions induce more evident unconscious emotional processing.

Linguistic processing in idiopathic generalized epilepsy: an auditory event-related potential study.

PubMed

Henkin, Yael; Kishon-Rabin, Liat; Pratt, Hillel; Kivity, Sara; Sadeh, Michelle; Gadoth, Natan

2003-09-01

Auditory processing of increasing acoustic and linguistic complexity was assessed in children with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) by using auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) as well as reaction time and performance accuracy. Twenty-four children with IGE [12 with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCSs), and 12 with absence seizures (ASs)] with average intelligence and age-appropriate scholastic skills, uniformly medicated with valproic acid (VPA), and 20 healthy controls, performed oddball discrimination tasks that consisted of the following stimuli: (a) pure tones; (b) nonmeaningful monosyllables that differed by their phonetic features (i.e., phonetic stimuli); and (c) meaningful monosyllabic words from two semantic categories (i.e., semantic stimuli). AERPs elicited by nonlinguistic stimuli were similar in healthy and epilepsy children, whereas those elicited by linguistic stimuli (i.e., phonetic and semantic) differed significantly in latency, amplitude, and scalp distribution. In children with GTCSs, phonetic and semantic processing were characterized by slower processing time, manifested by prolonged N2 and P3 latencies during phonetic processing, and prolongation of all AERPs latencies during semantic processing. In children with ASs, phonetic and semantic processing were characterized by increased allocation of attentional resources, manifested by enhanced N2 amplitudes. Semantic processing also was characterized by prolonged P3 latency. In both patient groups, processing of linguistic stimuli resulted in different patterns of brain-activity lateralization compared with that in healthy controls. Reaction time and performance accuracy did not differ among the study groups. AERPs exposed linguistic-processing deficits related to seizure type in children with IGE. Neurologic follow-up should therefore include evaluation of linguistic functions, and remedial intervention should be provided, accordingly.

Distinct Effects of Lexical and Semantic Competition during Picture Naming in Younger Adults, Older Adults, and People with Aphasia

PubMed Central

Britt, Allison E.; Ferrara, Casey; Mirman, Daniel

2016-01-01

Producing a word requires selecting among a set of similar alternatives. When many semantically related items become activated, the difficulty of the selection process is increased. Experiment 1 tested naming of items with either multiple synonymous labels (“Alternate Names,” e.g., gift/present) or closely semantically related but non-equivalent responses (“Near Semantic Neighbors,” e.g., jam/jelly). Picture naming was fastest and most accurate for pictures with only one label (“High Name Agreement”), slower and less accurate in the Alternate Names condition, and slowest and least accurate in the Near Semantic Neighbors condition. These results suggest that selection mechanisms in picture naming operate at two distinct levels of processing: selecting between similar but non-equivalent names requires two selection processes (semantic and lexical), whereas selecting among equivalent names only requires one selection at the lexical level. Experiment 2 examined how these selection mechanisms are affected by normal aging and found that older adults had significantly more difficulty in the Near Semantic Neighbors condition, but not in the Alternate Names condition. This suggests that aging affects semantic processing and selection more strongly than it affects lexical selection. Experiment 3 examined the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) in these selection processes by testing individuals with aphasia secondary to stroke lesions that either affected the LIFG or spared it. Surprisingly, there was no interaction between condition and lesion group: the presence of LIFG damage was not associated with substantively worse naming performance for pictures with multiple acceptable labels. These results are not consistent with a simple view of LIFG as the locus of lexical selection and suggest a more nuanced view of the neural basis of lexical and semantic selection. PMID:27458393

Prosodic expectations in silent reading: ERP evidence from rhyme scheme and semantic congruence in classic Chinese poems.

PubMed

Chen, Qingrong; Zhang, Jingjing; Xu, Xiaodong; Scheepers, Christoph; Yang, Yiming; Tanenhaus, Michael K

2016-09-01

In an ERP study, classic Chinese poems with a well-known rhyme scheme were used to generate an expectation of a rhyme in the absence of an expectation for a specific character. Critical characters were either consistent or inconsistent with the expected rhyme scheme and semantically congruent or incongruent with the content of the poem. These stimuli allowed us to examine whether a top-down rhyme scheme expectation would affect relatively early components of the ERP associated with character-to-sound mapping (P200) and lexically-mediated semantic processing (N400). The ERP data revealed that rhyme scheme congruence, but not semantic congruence modulated the P200: rhyme-incongruent characters elicited a P200 effect across the head demonstrating that top-down expectations influence early phonological coding of the character before lexical-semantic processing. Rhyme scheme incongruence also produced a right-lateralized N400-like effect. Moreover, compared to semantically congruous poems, semantically incongruous poems produced a larger N400 response only when the character was consistent with the expected rhyme scheme. The results suggest that top-down prosodic expectations can modulate early phonological processing in visual word recognition, indicating that prosodic expectations might play an important role in silent reading. They also suggest that semantic processing is influenced by general knowledge of text genre. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Semantic Network at Work and Rest: Differential Connectivity of Anterior Temporal Lobe Subregions.

PubMed

Jackson, Rebecca L; Hoffman, Paul; Pobric, Gorana; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A

2016-02-03

The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) makes a critical contribution to semantic cognition. However, the functional connectivity of the ATL and the functional network underlying semantic cognition has not been elucidated. In addition, subregions of the ATL have distinct functional properties and thus the potential differential connectivity between these subregions requires investigation. We explored these aims using both resting-state and active semantic task data in humans in combination with a dual-echo gradient echo planar imaging (EPI) paradigm designed to ensure signal throughout the ATL. In the resting-state analysis, the ventral ATL (vATL) and anterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG) were shown to connect to areas responsible for multimodal semantic cognition, including bilateral ATL, inferior frontal gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, angular gyrus, posterior MTG, and medial temporal lobes. In contrast, the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG)/superior temporal sulcus was connected to a distinct set of auditory and language-related areas, including bilateral STG, precentral and postcentral gyri, supplementary motor area, supramarginal gyrus, posterior temporal cortex, and inferior and middle frontal gyri. Complementary analyses of functional connectivity during an active semantic task were performed using a psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. The PPI analysis highlighted the same semantic regions suggesting a core semantic network active during rest and task states. This supports the necessity for semantic cognition in internal processes occurring during rest. The PPI analysis showed additional connectivity of the vATL to regions of occipital and frontal cortex. These areas strongly overlap with regions found to be sensitive to executively demanding, controlled semantic processing. Previous studies have shown that semantic cognition depends on subregions of the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). However, the network of regions functionally connected to these subregions has not been demarcated. Here, we show that these ventrolateral anterior temporal subregions form part of a network responsible for semantic processing during both rest and an explicit semantic task. This demonstrates the existence of a core functional network responsible for multimodal semantic cognition regardless of state. Distinct connectivity is identified in the superior ATL, which is connected to auditory and language areas. Understanding the functional connectivity of semantic cognition allows greater understanding of how this complex process may be performed and the role of distinct subregions of the anterior temporal cortex. Copyright © 2016 Jackson et al.

The Semantic Network at Work and Rest: Differential Connectivity of Anterior Temporal Lobe Subregions

PubMed Central

Jackson, Rebecca L.; Hoffman, Paul; Pobric, Gorana

2016-01-01

The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) makes a critical contribution to semantic cognition. However, the functional connectivity of the ATL and the functional network underlying semantic cognition has not been elucidated. In addition, subregions of the ATL have distinct functional properties and thus the potential differential connectivity between these subregions requires investigation. We explored these aims using both resting-state and active semantic task data in humans in combination with a dual-echo gradient echo planar imaging (EPI) paradigm designed to ensure signal throughout the ATL. In the resting-state analysis, the ventral ATL (vATL) and anterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG) were shown to connect to areas responsible for multimodal semantic cognition, including bilateral ATL, inferior frontal gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, angular gyrus, posterior MTG, and medial temporal lobes. In contrast, the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG)/superior temporal sulcus was connected to a distinct set of auditory and language-related areas, including bilateral STG, precentral and postcentral gyri, supplementary motor area, supramarginal gyrus, posterior temporal cortex, and inferior and middle frontal gyri. Complementary analyses of functional connectivity during an active semantic task were performed using a psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. The PPI analysis highlighted the same semantic regions suggesting a core semantic network active during rest and task states. This supports the necessity for semantic cognition in internal processes occurring during rest. The PPI analysis showed additional connectivity of the vATL to regions of occipital and frontal cortex. These areas strongly overlap with regions found to be sensitive to executively demanding, controlled semantic processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Previous studies have shown that semantic cognition depends on subregions of the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). However, the network of regions functionally connected to these subregions has not been demarcated. Here, we show that these ventrolateral anterior temporal subregions form part of a network responsible for semantic processing during both rest and an explicit semantic task. This demonstrates the existence of a core functional network responsible for multimodal semantic cognition regardless of state. Distinct connectivity is identified in the superior ATL, which is connected to auditory and language areas. Understanding the functional connectivity of semantic cognition allows greater understanding of how this complex process may be performed and the role of distinct subregions of the anterior temporal cortex. PMID:26843633

The Spectrum of Cinema.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Grady, Gerald

Cinema emerged about 1900, and as the twentieth century ticked by, the cinematic process was recognized as a model for the thought processes of the human mind--of both the unconscious dream process and of the stream of conscious thought--and also as a model of the historical process. Film not only is an experiential process and a physical…

The contribution of executive control to semantic cognition: Convergent evidence from semantic aphasia and executive dysfunction.

PubMed

Thompson, Hannah E; Almaghyuli, Azizah; Noonan, Krist A; Barak, Ohr; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Jefferies, Elizabeth

2018-01-03

Semantic cognition, as described by the controlled semantic cognition (CSC) framework (Rogers et al., , Neuropsychologia, 76, 220), involves two key components: activation of coherent, generalizable concepts within a heteromodal 'hub' in combination with modality-specific features (spokes), and a constraining mechanism that manipulates and gates this knowledge to generate time- and task-appropriate behaviour. Executive-semantic goal representations, largely supported by executive regions such as frontal and parietal cortex, are thought to allow the generation of non-dominant aspects of knowledge when these are appropriate for the task or context. Semantic aphasia (SA) patients have executive-semantic deficits, and these are correlated with general executive impairment. If the CSC proposal is correct, patients with executive impairment should not only exhibit impaired semantic cognition, but should also show characteristics that align with those observed in SA. This possibility remains largely untested, as patients selected on the basis that they show executive impairment (i.e., with 'dysexecutive syndrome') have not been extensively tested on tasks tapping semantic control and have not been previously compared with SA cases. We explored conceptual processing in 12 patients showing symptoms consistent with dysexecutive syndrome (DYS) and 24 SA patients, using a range of multimodal semantic assessments which manipulated control demands. Patients with executive impairments, despite not being selected to show semantic impairments, nevertheless showed parallel patterns to SA cases. They showed strong effects of distractor strength, cues and miscues, and probe-target distance, plus minimal effects of word frequency on comprehension (unlike semantic dementia patients with degradation of conceptual knowledge). This supports a component process account of semantic cognition in which retrieval is shaped by control processes, and confirms that deficits in SA patients reflect difficulty controlling semantic retrieval. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Neuropsychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Effect of semantic coherence on episodic memory processes in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Battal Merlet, Lâle; Morel, Shasha; Blanchet, Alain; Lockman, Hazlin; Kostova, Milena

2014-12-30

Schizophrenia is associated with severe episodic retrieval impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility that schizophrenia patients could improve their familiarity and/or recollection processes by manipulating the semantic coherence of to-be-learned stimuli and using deep encoding. Twelve schizophrenia patients and 12 healthy controls of comparable age, gender, and educational level undertook an associative recognition memory task. The stimuli consisted of pairs of words that were either related or unrelated to a given semantic category. The process dissociation procedure was used to calculate the estimates of familiarity and recollection processes. Both groups showed enhanced memory performances for semantically related words. However, in healthy controls, semantic relatedness led to enhanced recollection, while in schizophrenia patients, it induced enhanced familiarity. The familiarity estimates for related words were comparable in both groups, indicating that familiarity could be used as a compensatory mechanism in schizophrenia patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intuitive (in)coherence judgments are guided by processing fluency, mood and affect.

PubMed

Sweklej, Joanna; Balas, Robert; Pochwatko, Grzegorz; Godlewska, Małgorzata

2014-01-01

Recently proposed accounts of intuitive judgments of semantic coherence assume that processing fluency results in a positive affective response leading to successful assessment of semantic coherence. The present paper investigates whether processing fluency may indicate semantic incoherence as well. In two studies, we employ a new paradigm in which participants have to detect an incoherent item among semantically coherent words. In Study 1, we show participants accurately indicating an incoherent item despite not being able to provide an accurate solution to coherent words. Further, this effect is modified by affective valence of solution words that are not retrieved from memory. Study 2 replicates those results and extend them by showing that mood moderates incoherence judgments independently of affective valence of solutions. The results support processing fluency account of intuitive semantic coherence judgments and show that it is not fluency per se but fluency variations that drive judgments.

Vowelling and semantic priming effects in Arabic.

PubMed

Mountaj, Nadia; El Yagoubi, Radouane; Himmi, Majid; Lakhdar Ghazal, Faouzi; Besson, Mireille; Boudelaa, Sami

2015-01-01

In the present experiment we used a semantic judgment task with Arabic words to determine whether semantic priming effects are found in the Arabic language. Moreover, we took advantage of the specificity of the Arabic orthographic system, which is characterized by a shallow (i.e., vowelled words) and a deep orthography (i.e., unvowelled words), to examine the relationship between orthographic and semantic processing. Results showed faster Reaction Times (RTs) for semantically related than unrelated words with no difference between vowelled and unvowelled words. By contrast, Event Related Potentials (ERPs) revealed larger N1 and N2 components to vowelled words than unvowelled words suggesting that visual-orthographic complexity taxes the early word processing stages. Moreover, semantically unrelated Arabic words elicited larger N400 components than related words thereby demonstrating N400 effects in Arabic. Finally, the Arabic N400 effect was not influenced by orthographic depth. The implications of these results for understanding the processing of orthographic, semantic, and morphological structures in Modern Standard Arabic are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Explaining semantic short-term memory deficits: Evidence for the critical role of semantic control

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Paul; Jefferies, Elizabeth; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

2011-01-01

Patients with apparently selective short-term memory (STM) deficits for semantic information have played an important role in developing multi-store theories of STM and challenge the idea that verbal STM is supported by maintaining activation in the language system. We propose that semantic STM deficits are not as selective as previously thought and can occur as a result of mild disruption to semantic control processes, i.e., mechanisms that bias semantic processing towards task-relevant aspects of knowledge and away from irrelevant information. We tested three semantic STM patients with tasks that tapped four aspects of semantic control: (i) resolving ambiguity between word meanings, (ii) sensitivity to cues, (iii) ignoring irrelevant information and (iv) detecting weak semantic associations. All were impaired in conditions requiring more semantic control, irrespective of the STM demands of the task, suggesting a mild, but task-general, deficit in regulating semantic knowledge. This mild deficit has a disproportionate effect on STM tasks because they have high intrinsic control demands: in STM tasks, control is required to keep information active when it is no longer available in the environment and to manage competition between items held in memory simultaneously. By re-interpreting the core deficit in semantic STM patients in this way, we are able to explain their apparently selective impairment without the need for a specialised STM store. Instead, we argue that semantic STM patients occupy the mildest end of spectrum of semantic control disorders. PMID:21195105

The Relation between Thematic Role Computing and Semantic Relatedness Processing during On-Line Sentence Comprehension

PubMed Central

Li, Xiaoqing; Zhao, Haiyan; Lu, Yong

2014-01-01

Sentence comprehension involves timely computing different types of relations between its verbs and noun arguments, such as morphosyntactic, semantic, and thematic relations. Here, we used EEG technique to investigate the potential differences in thematic role computing and lexical-semantic relatedness processing during on-line sentence comprehension, and the interaction between these two types of processes. Mandarin Chinese sentences were used as materials. The basic structure of those sentences is “Noun+Verb+‘le’+a two-character word”, with the Noun being the initial argument. The verb disambiguates the initial argument as an agent or a patient. Meanwhile, the initial argument and the verb are highly or lowly semantically related. The ERPs at the verbs revealed that: relative to the agent condition, the patient condition evoked a larger N400 only when the argument and verb were lowly semantically related; however, relative to the high-relatedness condition, the low-relatedness condition elicited a larger N400 regardless of the thematic relation; although both thematic role variation and semantic relatedness variation elicited N400 effects, the N400 effect elicited by the former was broadly distributed and reached maximum over the frontal electrodes, and the N400 effect elicited by the latter had a posterior distribution. In addition, the brain oscillations results showed that, although thematic role variation (patient vs. agent) induced power decreases around the beta frequency band (15–30 Hz), semantic relatedness variation (low-relatedness vs. high-relatedness) induced power increases in the theta frequency band (4–7 Hz). These results suggested that, in the sentence context, thematic role computing is modulated by the semantic relatedness between the verb and its argument; semantic relatedness processing, however, is in some degree independent from the thematic relations. Moreover, our results indicated that, during on-line sentence comprehension, thematic role computing and semantic relatedness processing are mediated by distinct neural systems. PMID:24755643

Neural correlates of implicit and explicit combinatorial semantic processing

PubMed Central

Graves, William W.; Binder, Jeffrey R.; Desai, Rutvik H.; Conant, Lisa L.; Seidenberg, Mark S.

2010-01-01

Language consists of sequences of words, but comprehending phrases involves more than concatenating meanings: A boat house is a shelter for boats, whereas a summer house is a house used during summer, and a ghost house is typically uninhabited. Little is known about the brain bases of combinatorial semantic processes. We performed two fMRI experiments using familiar, highly meaningful phrases (LAKE HOUSE) and unfamiliar phrases with minimal meaning created by reversing the word order of the familiar items (HOUSE LAKE). The first experiment used a 1-back matching task to assess implicit semantic processing, and the second used a classification task to engage explicit semantic processing. These conditions required processing of the same words, but with more effective combinatorial processing in the meaningful condition. The contrast of meaningful versus reversed phrases revealed activation primarily during the classification task, to a greater extent in the right hemisphere, including right angular gyrus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and bilateral posterior cingulate/precuneus, areas previously implicated in semantic processing. Positive correlations of fMRI signal with lexical (word-level) frequency occurred exclusively with the 1-back task and to a greater spatial extent on the left, including left posterior middle temporal gyrus and bilateral parahippocampus. These results reveal strong effects of task demands on engagement of lexical versus combinatorial processing and suggest a hemispheric dissociation between these levels of semantic representation. PMID:20600969

Professional Culture and Climate: Addressing Unconscious Bias

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knezek, Patricia

2016-10-01

Unconscious bias reflects expectations or stereotypes that influence our judgments of others (regardless of our own group). Everyone has unconscious biases. The end result of unconscious bias can be an accumulation of advantage or disadvantage that impacts the long term career success of individuals, depending on which biases they are subject to. In order to foster a professional culture and climate, being aware of these unconscious biases and mitigating against them is a first step. This is particularly important when judgements are needed, such as in cases for recruitment, choice of speakers for conferences, and even reviewing papers submitted for publication. This presentation will cover how unconscious bias manifests itself, what evidence exists to demonstrate it exists, and ways it can be addressed.

On the influence of typicality and age of acquisition on semantic processing: Diverging evidence from behavioural and ERP responses.

PubMed

Räling, Romy; Holzgrefe-Lang, Julia; Schröder, Astrid; Wartenburger, Isabell

2015-08-01

Various behavioural studies show that semantic typicality (TYP) and age of acquisition (AOA) of a specific word influence processing time and accuracy during the performance of lexical-semantic tasks. This study examines the influence of TYP and AOA on semantic processing at behavioural (response times and accuracy data) and electrophysiological levels using an auditory category-member-verification task. Reaction time data reveal independent TYP and AOA effects, while in the accuracy data and the event-related potentials predominantly effects of TYP can be found. The present study thus confirms previous findings and extends evidence found in the visual modality to the auditory modality. A modality-independent influence on semantic word processing is manifested. However, with regard to the influence of AOA, the diverging results raise questions on the origin of AOA effects as well as on the interpretation of offline and online data. Hence, results will be discussed against the background of recent theories on N400 correlates in semantic processing. In addition, an argument in favour of a complementary use of research techniques will be made. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-imagination can enhance memory in individuals with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Raffard, Stéphane; Bortolon, Catherine; Burca, Mariana; Novara, Caroline; Gely-Nargeot, Marie-Christine; Capdevielle, Delphine; Van der Linden, Martial

2016-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that self-referential strategies can be applied to improve memory in various memory- impaired populations. However, little is known regarding the relative effectiveness of self-referential strategies in schizophrenia patients. The main aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a new self-referential strategy known as self- imagination (SI) on a free recall task. Twenty schizophrenia patients and 20 healthy controls intentionally encoded words under five instructions: superficial processing, semantic processing, semantic self-referential processing, episodic self-referential processing and semantic self- imagining. Other measures included depression, psychotic symptoms and cognitive measures. We found a SI effect in memory as self- imagining resulted in better performance in memory retrieval than semantic and superficial encoding in schizophrenia patients. The memory boost for self-referenced information in comparison to semantic processing was not found for other self-referential strategies. In addition no relationship between clinical variables and free recall performances was found. In controls, the SI condition did not result in better performance. The three self-referential strategies yielded better free recall than both superficial and semantic encoding. This study provides evidence of the clinical utility of self-imagining as a mnemonic strategy in schizophrenia patients.

Neural correlates of successful semantic processing during propofol sedation.

PubMed

Adapa, Ram M; Davis, Matthew H; Stamatakis, Emmanuel A; Absalom, Anthony R; Menon, David K

2014-07-01

Sedation has a graded effect on brain responses to auditory stimuli: perceptual processing persists at sedation levels that attenuate more complex processing. We used fMRI in healthy volunteers sedated with propofol to assess changes in neural responses to spoken stimuli. Volunteers were scanned awake, sedated, and during recovery, while making perceptual or semantic decisions about nonspeech sounds or spoken words respectively. Sedation caused increased error rates and response times, and differentially affected responses to words in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and the left inferior temporal gyrus (LITG). Activity in LIFG regions putatively associated with semantic processing, was significantly reduced by sedation despite sedated volunteers continuing to make accurate semantic decisions. Instead, LITG activity was preserved for words greater than nonspeech sounds and may therefore be associated with persistent semantic processing during the deepest levels of sedation. These results suggest functionally distinct contributions of frontal and temporal regions to semantic decision making. These results have implications for functional imaging studies of language, for understanding mechanisms of impaired speech comprehension in postoperative patients with residual levels of anesthetic, and may contribute to the development of frameworks against which EEG based monitors could be calibrated to detect awareness under anesthesia. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of word retrieval in speech production revealed by cortical high-frequency band activity

PubMed Central

Dhillon, Rummit K.; Clarke, Alex; King-Stephens, David; Laxer, Kenneth D.; Weber, Peter B.; Kuperman, Rachel A.; Auguste, Kurtis I.; Brunner, Peter; Lin, Jack J.; Parvizi, Josef; Crone, Nathan E.; Dronkers, Nina F.; Knight, Robert T.

2017-01-01

Word retrieval is core to language production and relies on complementary processes: the rapid activation of lexical and conceptual representations and word selection, which chooses the correct word among semantically related competitors. Lexical and conceptual activation is measured by semantic priming. In contrast, word selection is indexed by semantic interference and is hampered in semantically homogeneous (HOM) contexts. We examined the spatiotemporal dynamics of these complementary processes in a picture naming task with blocks of semantically heterogeneous (HET) or HOM stimuli. We used electrocorticography data obtained from frontal and temporal cortices, permitting detailed spatiotemporal analysis of word retrieval processes. A semantic interference effect was observed with naming latencies longer in HOM versus HET blocks. Cortical response strength as indexed by high-frequency band (HFB) activity (70–150 Hz) amplitude revealed effects linked to lexical-semantic activation and word selection observed in widespread regions of the cortical mantle. Depending on the subsecond timing and cortical region, HFB indexed semantic interference (i.e., more activity in HOM than HET blocks) or semantic priming effects (i.e., more activity in HET than HOM blocks). These effects overlapped in time and space in the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and the left prefrontal cortex. The data do not support a modular view of word retrieval in speech production but rather support substantial overlap of lexical-semantic activation and word selection mechanisms in the brain. PMID:28533406

What lies beneath: A comparison of reading aloud in pure alexia and semantic dementia

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Paul; Roberts, Daniel J.; Ralph, Matthew A. Lambon; Patterson, Karalyn E.

2014-01-01

Exaggerated effects of word length upon reading-aloud performance define pure alexia, but have also been observed in semantic dementia. Some researchers have proposed a reading-specific account, whereby performance in these two disorders reflects the same cause: impaired orthographic processing. In contrast, according to the primary systems view of acquired reading disorders, pure alexia results from a basic visual processing deficit, whereas degraded semantic knowledge undermines reading performance in semantic dementia. To explore the source of reading deficits in these two disorders, we compared the reading performance of 10 pure alexic and 10 semantic dementia patients, matched in terms of overall severity of reading deficit. The results revealed comparable frequency effects on reading accuracy, but weaker effects of regularity in pure alexia than in semantic dementia. Analysis of error types revealed a higher rate of letter-based errors and a lower rate of regularization responses in pure alexia than in semantic dementia. Error responses were most often words in pure alexia but most often nonwords in semantic dementia. Although all patients made some letter substitution errors, these were characterized by visual similarity in pure alexia and phonological similarity in semantic dementia. Overall, the data indicate that the reading deficits in pure alexia and semantic dementia arise from impairments of visual processing and knowledge of word meaning, respectively. The locus and mechanisms of these impairments are placed within the context of current connectionist models of reading. PMID:24702272

Attention and Semantic Processing during Speech: An fMRI Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rama, Pia; Relander-Syrjanen, Kristiina; Carlson, Synnove; Salonen, Oili; Kujala, Teija

2012-01-01

This fMRI study was conducted to investigate whether language semantics is processed even when attention is not explicitly directed to word meanings. In the "unattended" condition, the subjects performed a visual detection task while hearing semantically related and unrelated word pairs. In the "phoneme" condition, the subjects made phoneme…

Semantic Processing in the Production of Numerals across Notations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrera, Amparo; Macizo, Pedro

2012-01-01

In the present work, we conducted a series of experiments to explore the processing stages required to name numerals presented in different notations. To this end, we used the semantic blocking paradigm previously used in psycholinguist studies. We found a facilitative effect of the semantic blocked context relative to the mixed context for Arabic…

Is Syntactic-Category Processing Obligatory in Visual Word Recognition? Evidence from Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Andus Wing-Kuen; Chen, Hsuan-Chih

2012-01-01

Three experiments were conducted to investigate how syntactic-category and semantic information is processed in visual word recognition. The stimuli were two-character Chinese words in which semantic and syntactic-category ambiguities were factorially manipulated. A lexical decision task was employed in Experiment 1, whereas a semantic relatedness…

Semantic priming from crowded words.

PubMed

Yeh, Su-Ling; He, Sheng; Cavanagh, Patrick

2012-06-01

Vision in a cluttered scene is extremely inefficient. This damaging effect of clutter, known as crowding, affects many aspects of visual processing (e.g., reading speed). We examined observers' processing of crowded targets in a lexical decision task, using single-character Chinese words that are compact but carry semantic meaning. Despite being unrecognizable and indistinguishable from matched nonwords, crowded prime words still generated robust semantic-priming effects on lexical decisions for test words presented in isolation. Indeed, the semantic-priming effect of crowded primes was similar to that of uncrowded primes. These findings show that the meanings of words survive crowding even when the identities of the words do not, suggesting that crowding does not prevent semantic activation, a process that may have evolved in the context of a cluttered visual environment.

Cognitive search model and a new query paradigm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Zhonghui

2001-06-01

This paper proposes a cognitive model in which people begin to search pictures by using semantic content and find a right picture by judging whether its visual content is a proper visualization of the semantics desired. It is essential that human search is not just a process of matching computation on visual feature but rather a process of visualization of the semantic content known. For people to search electronic images in the way as they manually do in the model, we suggest that querying be a semantic-driven process like design. A query-by-design paradigm is prosed in the sense that what you design is what you find. Unlike query-by-example, query-by-design allows users to specify the semantic content through an iterative and incremental interaction process so that a retrieval can start with association and identification of the given semantic content and get refined while further visual cues are available. An experimental image retrieval system, Kuafu, has been under development using the query-by-design paradigm and an iconic language is adopted.

The N400 reveals how personal semantics is processed: Insights into the nature and organization of self-knowledge

PubMed Central

Federmeier, Kara D.

2017-01-01

There is growing recognition that some important forms of long-term memory are difficult to classify into one of the well-studied memory subtypes. One example is personal semantics. Like the episodes that are stored as part of one’s autobiography, personal semantics is linked to an individual, yet, like general semantic memory, it is detached from a specific encoding context. Access to general semantics elicits an electrophysiological response known as the N400, which has been characterized across three decades of research; surprisingly, this response has not been fully examined in the context of personal semantics. In this study, we assessed responses to congruent and incongruent statements about people’s own, personal preferences. We found that access to personal preferences elicited N400 responses, with congruency effects that were similar in latency and distribution to those for general semantic statements elicited from the same participants. These results suggest that the processing of personal and general semantics share important functional and neurobiological features. PMID:26825011

Implicit and explicit processing in deep dyslexia: Semantic blocking as a test for failure of inhibition in the phonological output lexicon.

PubMed

Colangelo, Annette; Buchanan, Lori

2006-12-01

The failure of inhibition hypothesis posits a theoretical distinction between implicit and explicit access in deep dyslexia. Specifically, the effects of failure of inhibition are assumed only in conditions that have an explicit selection requirement in the context of production (i.e., aloud reading). In contrast, the failure of inhibition hypothesis proposes that implicit processing and explicit access to semantic information without production demands are intact in deep dyslexia. Evidence for intact implicit and explicit access requires that performance in deep dyslexia parallels that observed in neurologically intact participants on tasks based on implicit and explicit processes. In other words, deep dyslexics should produce normal effects in conditions with implicit task demands (i.e., lexical decision) and on tasks based on explicit access without production (i.e., forced choice semantic decisions) because failure of inhibition does not impact the availability of lexical information, only explicit retrieval in the context of production. This research examined the distinction between implicit and explicit processes in deep dyslexia using semantic blocking in lexical decision and forced choice semantic decisions as a test for the failure of inhibition hypothesis. The results of the semantic blocking paradigm support the distinction between implicit and explicit processing and provide evidence for failure of inhibition as an explanation for semantic errors in deep dyslexia.

The effect of semantic context on prospective memory performance.

PubMed

Thomas, Brandon J; McBride, Dawn M

2016-01-01

The current study provides evidence for spontaneous processing in prospective memory (PM) or memory for intentions. Discrepancy-plus-search is the spontaneous processing of PM cues via disruptions in processing fluency of ongoing task items. We tested whether this mechanism can be demonstrated in an ongoing rating task with a dominant semantic context. Ongoing task items were manipulated such that the PM cues were members of a semantic category (i.e., Body Parts) that was congruent or discrepant with the dominant semantic category in the ongoing task. Results showed that participants correctly responded to more PM cues when there was a category discrepancy between the PM cues and ongoing task items. Moreover, participants' identification of PM cues was accompanied by faster ongoing task reaction times when PM cues were discrepant with ongoing task items than when they were congruent. These results suggest that a discrepancy-plus-search process supports PM retrieval in certain contexts, and that some discrepancy-plus-search mechanisms may result from the violation of processing expectations within a semantic context.

Mapping the reading circuitry for skilled deaf readers: an fMRI study of semantic and phonological processing.

PubMed

Emmorey, Karen; Weisberg, Jill; McCullough, Stephen; Petrich, Jennifer A F

2013-08-01

We examined word-level reading circuits in skilled deaf readers whose primary language is American Sign Language, and hearing readers matched for reading ability (college level). During fMRI scanning, participants performed a semantic decision (concrete concept?), a phonological decision (two syllables?), and a false-font control task (string underlined?). The groups performed equally well on the semantic task, but hearing readers performed better on the phonological task. Semantic processing engaged similar left frontotemporal language circuits in deaf and hearing readers. However, phonological processing elicited increased neural activity in deaf, relative to hearing readers, in the left precentral gyrus, suggesting greater reliance on articulatory phonological codes, and in bilateral parietal cortex, suggesting increased phonological processing effort. Deaf readers also showed stronger anterior-posterior functional segregation between semantic and phonological processes in left inferior prefrontal cortex. Finally, weaker phonological decoding ability did not alter activation in the visual word form area for deaf readers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hemispheric differences in the recruitment of semantic processing mechanisms

PubMed Central

Kandhadai, Padmapriya; Federmeier, Kara D.

2010-01-01

This study examined how the two cerebral hemispheres recruit semantic processing mechanisms by combining event-related potential measures and visual half-field methods in a word priming paradigm in which semantic strength and predictability were manipulated using lexically associated word pairs. Activation patterns on the Late Positive Complex (LPC), linked to controlled aspects of processing, showed that previously documented left hemisphere (LH) processing benefits for word pairs with a weak forward but strong backward association stem from the ability to appreciate meaning relations in an order-independent fashion and/or strategically reorder them. Whereas there is a LH benefit for such strategic processing during comprehension in passive tasks, the present study further showed that the RH is also able to make use of these mechanisms when explicit semantic judgments are required. In both hemispheres, N400 responses, linked to initial semantic activation, were largely graded by association strength, with more amplitude reduction for forward associates and strong, symmetrically associated pairs compared to backward associates and matched weak, symmetrically associated pairs. However, responses to moderately associated pairs were more facilitated after initial presentation to the LH than to the RH. This pattern converges with sentence processing findings that point to LH advantages for using context information to predict features of likely upcoming words. Together, the results suggest that an important basis for hemispheric asymmetries in language comprehension arises from when and how each uses top-down semantic mechanisms to shape initial semantic activation over time. PMID:20638397

Frontal lobe damage impairs process and content in semantic memory: evidence from category-specific effects in progressive non-fluent aphasia.

PubMed

Reilly, Jamie; Rodriguez, Amy D; Peelle, Jonathan E; Grossman, Murray

2011-06-01

Portions of left inferior frontal cortex have been linked to semantic memory both in terms of the content of conceptual representation (e.g., motor aspects in an embodied semantics framework) and the cognitive processes used to access these representations (e.g., response selection). Progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by progressive atrophy of left inferior frontal cortex. PNFA can, therefore, provide a lesion model for examining the impact of frontal lobe damage on semantic processing and content. In the current study we examined picture naming in a cohort of PNFA patients across a variety of semantic categories. An embodied approach to semantic memory holds that sensorimotor features such as self-initiated action may assume differential importance for the representation of manufactured artifacts (e.g., naming hand tools). Embodiment theories might therefore predict that patients with frontal damage would be differentially impaired on manufactured artifacts relative to natural kinds, and this prediction was borne out. We also examined patterns of naming errors across a wide range of semantic categories and found that naming error distributions were heterogeneous. Although PNFA patients performed worse overall on naming manufactured artifacts, there was no reliable relationship between anomia and manipulability across semantic categories. These results add to a growing body of research arguing against a purely sensorimotor account of semantic memory, suggesting instead a more nuanced balance of process and content in how the brain represents conceptual knowledge. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

The Latin American contribution to the psychoanalytic concept of phantasy.

PubMed

de Barros, Izelinda Garcia

2012-12-01

The author argues that the ubiquity of phantasies at various levels of mental functioning is undisputed in the current schools of psychoanalytic thought; however, she demonstrates some variations in their understanding of how the psychotherapeutic access to different configurations occurs. In the process of examining and acknowledging the central role played by unconscious phantasies in his patients' symptoms, Freud gradually broadened the vernacular meaning of the German word 'Phantasie' that refers to imagination and the world of imagination, conferring on it the specific features that came to characterize its use in the psychoanalytic vocabulary. Later, the expansion of the concept derived from Melanie Klein's clinical material obtained from child analyses gave rise to important debates. The author discusses the main points of disagreement that led to these debates, as well as their various theoretical and technical implications. Psychoanalytic associations in Latin America were strongly influenced by Klein and her followers. Thus, most of their scientific writings use the concept of unconscious phantasy put forward by the Kleinian school. Taking Kleinian principles as their starting point, Baranger and Baranger made the most original Latin American contribution to the concept of unconscious phantasy with their works on the unconscious phantasies generated by the analytic pair. Copyright © 2012 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Unconscious presentation of fearful face modulates electrophysiological responses to emotional prosody.

PubMed

Doi, Hirokazu; Shinohara, Kazuyuki

2015-03-01

Cross-modal integration of visual and auditory emotional cues is supposed to be advantageous in the accurate recognition of emotional signals. However, the neural locus of cross-modal integration between affective prosody and unconsciously presented facial expression in the neurologically intact population is still elusive at this point. The present study examined the influences of unconsciously presented facial expressions on the event-related potentials (ERPs) in emotional prosody recognition. In the experiment, fearful, happy, and neutral faces were presented without awareness by continuous flash suppression simultaneously with voices containing laughter and a fearful shout. The conventional peak analysis revealed that the ERPs were modulated interactively by emotional prosody and facial expression at multiple latency ranges, indicating that audio-visual integration of emotional signals takes place automatically without conscious awareness. In addition, the global field power during the late-latency range was larger for shout than for laughter only when a fearful face was presented unconsciously. The neural locus of this effect was localized to the left posterior fusiform gyrus, giving support to the view that the cortical region, traditionally considered to be unisensory region for visual processing, functions as the locus of audiovisual integration of emotional signals. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Quantum mechanics and the psyche

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galli Carminati, G.; Martin, F.

2008-07-01

In this paper we apply the last developments of the theory of measurement in quantum mechanics to the phenomenon of consciousness and especially to the awareness of unconscious components. Various models of measurement in quantum mechanics can be distinguished by the fact that there is, or there is not, a collapse of the wave function. The passive aspect of consciousness seems to agree better with models in which there is no collapse of the wave function, whereas in the active aspect of consciousness—i.e., that which goes together with an act or a choice—there seems to be a collapse of the wave function. As an example of the second possibility we study in detail the photon delayed-choice experiment and its consequences for subjective or psychological time. We apply this as an attempt to explain synchronicity phenomena. As a model of application of the awareness of unconscious components we study the mourning process. We apply also the quantum paradigm to the phenomenon of correlation at a distance between minds, as well as to group correlations that appear during group therapies or group training. Quantum entanglement leads to the formation of group unconscious or collective unconscious. Finally we propose to test the existence of such correlations during sessions of group training.

Re-examination of Chinese semantic processing and syntactic processing: evidence from conventional ERPs and reconstructed ERPs by residue iteration decomposition (RIDE).

PubMed

Wang, Fang; Ouyang, Guang; Zhou, Changsong; Wang, Suiping

2015-01-01

A number of studies have explored the time course of Chinese semantic and syntactic processing. However, whether syntactic processing occurs earlier than semantics during Chinese sentence reading is still under debate. To further explore this issue, an event-related potentials (ERPs) experiment was conducted on 21 native Chinese speakers who read individually-presented Chinese simple sentences (NP1+VP+NP2) word-by-word for comprehension and made semantic plausibility judgments. The transitivity of the verbs was manipulated to form three types of stimuli: congruent sentences (CON), sentences with a semantically violated NP2 following a transitive verb (semantic violation, SEM), and sentences with a semantically violated NP2 following an intransitive verb (combined semantic and syntactic violation, SEM+SYN). The ERPs evoked from the target NP2 were analyzed by using the Residue Iteration Decomposition (RIDE) method to reconstruct the ERP waveform blurred by trial-to-trial variability, as well as by using the conventional ERP method based on stimulus-locked averaging. The conventional ERP analysis showed that, compared with the critical words in CON, those in SEM and SEM+SYN elicited an N400-P600 biphasic pattern. The N400 effects in both violation conditions were of similar size and distribution, but the P600 in SEM+SYN was bigger than that in SEM. Compared with the conventional ERP analysis, RIDE analysis revealed a larger N400 effect and an earlier P600 effect (in the time window of 500-800 ms instead of 570-810ms). Overall, the combination of conventional ERP analysis and the RIDE method for compensating for trial-to-trial variability confirmed the non-significant difference between SEM and SEM+SYN in the earlier N400 time window. Converging with previous findings on other Chinese structures, the current study provides further precise evidence that syntactic processing in Chinese does not occur earlier than semantic processing.

Do metrical incongruities disrupt semantic processing in modern Chinese? An event-related potential study.

PubMed

Lee, Yujun; Liu, Xin; Wang, Xiaoming

2015-09-30

The present study examined the relationship between prosody and semantic processing in the written form of modern Chinese by analysing behavioural data and event-related potential data. By manipulating the number of noun syllables in verb-objection, we compare the dynamic neural mechanisms of the structure bisyllabic verb (V2)+monosyllabic noun (N1) (i.e. V2+N1) with V2+N1 (N2, bisyllabic noun). In Chinese, the rhythmic pattern V2+N1 is considered to be a metrical incongruity, whereas V2+N2 is considered to be a metrical congruity. For example, the verb yunshu (to transport) can be followed by liangshi (cereals). However, if yunshu is followed by liang (cereals), yunshu liang is usually considered to be metrically incongruous. This paper shows that (i) V2+N1 elicited more negative amplitudes than V2+N2 in the 90-170 ms and 450-500 ms windows, which indicates that metrical incongruities affect semantic processing in Chinese, and (ii) the acceptance rate for V2+N1 is significantly lower than that of V2+N2, which implies that metrical incongruities disrupt semantic processing in modern Chinese. These results are in agreement with previous studies. This is the first study to find that metrical incongruities disrupt semantic processing in Chinese. This study provides convergent evidence that metrical congruities facilitate semantic processing, whereas metrical incongruities disrupt semantic processing. Video abstract available (Supplemental digital content 1, http://links.lww.com/WNR/A340).

A DNA-based semantic fusion model for remote sensing data.

PubMed

Sun, Heng; Weng, Jian; Yu, Guangchuang; Massawe, Richard H

2013-01-01

Semantic technology plays a key role in various domains, from conversation understanding to algorithm analysis. As the most efficient semantic tool, ontology can represent, process and manage the widespread knowledge. Nowadays, many researchers use ontology to collect and organize data's semantic information in order to maximize research productivity. In this paper, we firstly describe our work on the development of a remote sensing data ontology, with a primary focus on semantic fusion-driven research for big data. Our ontology is made up of 1,264 concepts and 2,030 semantic relationships. However, the growth of big data is straining the capacities of current semantic fusion and reasoning practices. Considering the massive parallelism of DNA strands, we propose a novel DNA-based semantic fusion model. In this model, a parallel strategy is developed to encode the semantic information in DNA for a large volume of remote sensing data. The semantic information is read in a parallel and bit-wise manner and an individual bit is converted to a base. By doing so, a considerable amount of conversion time can be saved, i.e., the cluster-based multi-processes program can reduce the conversion time from 81,536 seconds to 4,937 seconds for 4.34 GB source data files. Moreover, the size of result file recording DNA sequences is 54.51 GB for parallel C program compared with 57.89 GB for sequential Perl. This shows that our parallel method can also reduce the DNA synthesis cost. In addition, data types are encoded in our model, which is a basis for building type system in our future DNA computer. Finally, we describe theoretically an algorithm for DNA-based semantic fusion. This algorithm enables the process of integration of the knowledge from disparate remote sensing data sources into a consistent, accurate, and complete representation. This process depends solely on ligation reaction and screening operations instead of the ontology.

A DNA-Based Semantic Fusion Model for Remote Sensing Data

PubMed Central

Sun, Heng; Weng, Jian; Yu, Guangchuang; Massawe, Richard H.

2013-01-01

Semantic technology plays a key role in various domains, from conversation understanding to algorithm analysis. As the most efficient semantic tool, ontology can represent, process and manage the widespread knowledge. Nowadays, many researchers use ontology to collect and organize data's semantic information in order to maximize research productivity. In this paper, we firstly describe our work on the development of a remote sensing data ontology, with a primary focus on semantic fusion-driven research for big data. Our ontology is made up of 1,264 concepts and 2,030 semantic relationships. However, the growth of big data is straining the capacities of current semantic fusion and reasoning practices. Considering the massive parallelism of DNA strands, we propose a novel DNA-based semantic fusion model. In this model, a parallel strategy is developed to encode the semantic information in DNA for a large volume of remote sensing data. The semantic information is read in a parallel and bit-wise manner and an individual bit is converted to a base. By doing so, a considerable amount of conversion time can be saved, i.e., the cluster-based multi-processes program can reduce the conversion time from 81,536 seconds to 4,937 seconds for 4.34 GB source data files. Moreover, the size of result file recording DNA sequences is 54.51 GB for parallel C program compared with 57.89 GB for sequential Perl. This shows that our parallel method can also reduce the DNA synthesis cost. In addition, data types are encoded in our model, which is a basis for building type system in our future DNA computer. Finally, we describe theoretically an algorithm for DNA-based semantic fusion. This algorithm enables the process of integration of the knowledge from disparate remote sensing data sources into a consistent, accurate, and complete representation. This process depends solely on ligation reaction and screening operations instead of the ontology. PMID:24116207

(Pea)nuts and bolts of visual narrative: Structure and meaning in sequential image comprehension

PubMed Central

Cohn, Neil; Paczynski, Martin; Jackendoff, Ray; Holcomb, Phillip J.; Kuperberg, Gina R.

2012-01-01

Just as syntax differentiates coherent sentences from scrambled word strings, the comprehension of sequential images must also use a cognitive system to distinguish coherent narrative sequences from random strings of images. We conducted experiments analogous to two classic studies of language processing to examine the contributions of narrative structure and semantic relatedness to processing sequential images. We compared four types of comic strips: 1) Normal sequences with both structure and meaning, 2) Semantic Only sequences (in which the panels were related to a common semantic theme, but had no narrative structure), 3) Structural Only sequences (narrative structure but no semantic relatedness), and 4) Scrambled sequences of randomly-ordered panels. In Experiment 1, participants monitored for target panels in sequences presented panel-by-panel. Reaction times were slowest to panels in Scrambled sequences, intermediate in both Structural Only and Semantic Only sequences, and fastest in Normal sequences. This suggests that both semantic relatedness and narrative structure offer advantages to processing. Experiment 2 measured ERPs to all panels across the whole sequence. The N300/N400 was largest to panels in both the Scrambled and Structural Only sequences, intermediate in Semantic Only sequences and smallest in the Normal sequences. This implies that a combination of narrative structure and semantic relatedness can facilitate semantic processing of upcoming panels (as reflected by the N300/N400). Also, panels in the Scrambled sequences evoked a larger left-lateralized anterior negativity than panels in the Structural Only sequences. This localized effect was distinct from the N300/N400, and appeared despite the fact that these two sequence types were matched on local semantic relatedness between individual panels. These findings suggest that sequential image comprehension uses a narrative structure that may be independent of semantic relatedness. Altogether, we argue that the comprehension of visual narrative is guided by an interaction between structure and meaning. PMID:22387723

An Event Related Potentials Study of Semantic Coherence Effect during Episodic Encoding in Schizophrenia Patients

PubMed Central

Blanchet, Alain; Lockman, Hazlin

2018-01-01

The objective of this electrophysiological study was to investigate the processing of semantic coherence during encoding in relation to episodic memory processes promoted at test, in schizophrenia patients, by using the N400 paradigm. Eighteen schizophrenia patients and 15 healthy participants undertook a recognition memory task. The stimuli consisted of pairs of words either semantically related or unrelated to a given category name (context). During encoding, both groups exhibited an N400 external semantic coherence effect. Healthy controls also showed an N400 internal semantic coherence effect, but this effect was not present in patients. At test, related stimuli were accompanied by an FN400 old/new effect in both groups and by a parietal old/new effect in the control group alone. In the patient group, external semantic coherence effect was associated with FN400, while, in the control group, it was correlated to the parietal old/new effect. Our results indicate that schizophrenia patients can process the contextual information at encoding to enhance familiarity process for related stimuli at test. Therefore, cognitive rehabilitation therapies targeting the implementation of semantic encoding strategies can mobilize familiarity which in turn can overcome the recollection deficit, promoting successful episodic memory performance in schizophrenia patients. PMID:29535872

What's Unique about Unique Entities? An fMRI Investigation of the Semantics of Famous Faces and Landmarks

PubMed Central

Olson, Ingrid R.

2012-01-01

Famous people and artifacts are referred to as “unique entities” (UEs) due to the unique nature of the knowledge we have about them. Past imaging and lesion experiments have indicated that the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) as having a special role in the processing of UEs. It has remained unclear which attributes of UEs were responsible for the observed effects in imaging experiments. In this study, we investigated what factors of UEs influence brain activity. In a training paradigm, we systematically varied the uniqueness of semantic associations, the presence/absence of a proper name, and the number of semantic associations to determine factors modulating activity in regions subserving the processing of UEs. We found that a conjunction of unique semantic information and proper names modulated activity within a section of the left ATL. Overall, the processing of UEs involved a wider left-hemispheric cortical network. Within these regions, brain activity was significantly affected by the unique semantic attributes especially in the presence of a proper name, but we could not find evidence for an effect of the number of semantic associations. Findings are discussed in regard to current models of ATL function, the neurophysiology of semantics, and social cognitive processing. PMID:22021913

Examining Lateralized Semantic Access Using Pictures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovseth, Kyle; Atchley, Ruth Ann

2010-01-01

A divided visual field (DVF) experiment examined the semantic processing strategies employed by the cerebral hemispheres to determine if strategies observed with written word stimuli generalize to other media for communicating semantic information. We employed picture stimuli and vary the degree of semantic relatedness between the picture pairs.…

Behavior in Oblivion: The Neurobiology of Subliminal Priming

PubMed Central

Jacobs, Christianne; Sack, Alexander T.

2012-01-01

Subliminal priming refers to behavioral modulation by an unconscious stimulus, and can thus be regarded as a form of unconscious visual processing. Theories on recurrent processing have suggested that the neural correlate of consciousness (NCC) comprises of the non-hierarchical transfer of stimulus-related information. According to these models, the neural correlate of subliminal priming (NCSP) corresponds to the visual processing within the feedforward sweep. Research from cognitive neuroscience on these two concepts and the relationship between them is discussed here. Evidence favoring the necessity of recurrent connectivity for visual awareness is accumulating, although some questions, such as the need for global versus local recurrent processing, are not clarified yet. However, this is not to say that recurrent processing is sufficient for consciousness, as a neural definition of consciousness in terms of recurrent connectivity would imply. We argue that the limited interest cognitive neuroscience currently has for the NCSP is undeserved, because the discovery of the NCSP can give insight into why people do (and do not) express certain behavior. PMID:24962773

Diagnostic and prognostic role of semantic processing in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Venneri, Annalena; Jahn-Carta, Caroline; Marco, Matteo De; Quaranta, Davide; Marra, Camillo

2018-06-13

Relatively spared during most of the timeline of normal aging, semantic memory shows a subtle yet measurable decline even during the pre-clinical stage of Alzheimer's disease. This decline is thought to reflect early neurofibrillary changes and impairment is detectable using tests of language relying on lexical-semantic abilities. A promising approach is the characterization of semantic parameters such as typicality and age of acquisition of words, and propositional density from verbal output. Seminal research like the Nun Study or the analysis of the linguistic decline of famous writers and politicians later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease supports the early diagnostic value of semantic processing and semantic memory. Moreover, measures of these skills may play an important role for the prognosis of patients with mild cognitive impairment.

A computational modeling of semantic knowledge in reading comprehension: Integrating the landscape model with latent semantic analysis.

PubMed

Yeari, Menahem; van den Broek, Paul

2016-09-01

It is a well-accepted view that the prior semantic (general) knowledge that readers possess plays a central role in reading comprehension. Nevertheless, computational models of reading comprehension have not integrated the simulation of semantic knowledge and online comprehension processes under a unified mathematical algorithm. The present article introduces a computational model that integrates the landscape model of comprehension processes with latent semantic analysis representation of semantic knowledge. In three sets of simulations of previous behavioral findings, the integrated model successfully simulated the activation and attenuation of predictive and bridging inferences during reading, as well as centrality estimations and recall of textual information after reading. Analyses of the computational results revealed new theoretical insights regarding the underlying mechanisms of the various comprehension phenomena.

Application of Non-Kolmogorovian Probability and Quantum Adaptive Dynamics to Unconscious Inference in Visual Perception Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Accardi, Luigi; Khrennikov, Andrei; Ohya, Masanori; Tanaka, Yoshiharu; Yamato, Ichiro

2016-07-01

Recently a novel quantum information formalism — quantum adaptive dynamics — was developed and applied to modelling of information processing by bio-systems including cognitive phenomena: from molecular biology (glucose-lactose metabolism for E.coli bacteria, epigenetic evolution) to cognition, psychology. From the foundational point of view quantum adaptive dynamics describes mutual adapting of the information states of two interacting systems (physical or biological) as well as adapting of co-observations performed by the systems. In this paper we apply this formalism to model unconscious inference: the process of transition from sensation to perception. The paper combines theory and experiment. Statistical data collected in an experimental study on recognition of a particular ambiguous figure, the Schröder stairs, support the viability of the quantum(-like) model of unconscious inference including modelling of biases generated by rotation-contexts. From the probabilistic point of view, we study (for concrete experimental data) the problem of contextuality of probability, its dependence on experimental contexts. Mathematically contextuality leads to non-Komogorovness: probability distributions generated by various rotation contexts cannot be treated in the Kolmogorovian framework. At the same time they can be embedded in a “big Kolmogorov space” as conditional probabilities. However, such a Kolmogorov space has too complex structure and the operational quantum formalism in the form of quantum adaptive dynamics simplifies the modelling essentially.

The deeper self: an expanded view of consciousness.

PubMed

Paulson, Steve; Hustvedt, Siri; Solms, Mark; Shamdasani, Sonu

2017-10-01

As science continues to explore the mysteries of the unconscious, two critical questions remain. First, can unconscious impulses, desires, and feelings be willfully raised to the level of the conscious self?, and, if so, would the unveiling of unconscious mechanisms lead to genuine self-knowledge or empowerment? Second, can we methodically tap into the unconscious to gear ourselves along more creative lines? If the unconscious is a source of intuitive and creative inspiration, how might a more expansive understanding of consciousness help us to flourish? How can we harness the intuitive parts of ourselves to think "outside the box," transcending the limitations of preconceived categories? And along those same lines, how would an expanded view of the unconscious frame our spiritual experiences or offer spiritual nourishment? Writer Siri Hustvedt, historian of psychology Sonu Shamdasani, and neuropsychologist Mark Solms will tackle everything from noetic experiences and the role of intuition to the phenomenon of peak experience and Jung's "collective unconscious." © 2017 New York Academy of Sciences.

Dynamics of Propofol-Induced Loss of Consciousness Across Primate Neocortex.

PubMed

Ishizawa, Yumiko; Ahmed, Omar J; Patel, Shaun R; Gale, John T; Sierra-Mercado, Demetrio; Brown, Emery N; Eskandar, Emad N

2016-07-20

The precise neural mechanisms underlying transitions between consciousness and anesthetic-induced unconsciousness remain unclear. Here, we studied intracortical neuronal dynamics leading to propofol-induced unconsciousness by recording single-neuron activity and local field potentials directly in the functionally interconnecting somatosensory (S1) and frontal ventral premotor (PMv) network during a gradual behavioral transition from full alertness to loss of consciousness (LOC) and on through a deeper anesthetic level. Macaque monkeys were trained for a behavioral task designed to determine the trial-by-trial alertness and neuronal response to tactile and auditory stimulation. We show that disruption of coherent beta oscillations between S1 and PMv preceded, but did not coincide with, the LOC. LOC appeared to correspond to pronounced but brief gamma-/high-beta-band oscillations (lasting ∼3 min) in PMv, followed by a gamma peak in S1. We also demonstrate that the slow oscillations appeared after LOC in S1 and then in PMv after a delay, together suggesting that neuronal dynamics are very different across S1 versus PMv during LOC. Finally, neurons in both S1 and PMv transition from responding to bimodal (tactile and auditory) stimulation before LOC to only tactile modality during unconsciousness, consistent with an inhibition of multisensory integration in this network. Our results show that propofol-induced LOC is accompanied by spatiotemporally distinct oscillatory neuronal dynamics across the somatosensory and premotor network and suggest that a transitional state from wakefulness to unconsciousness is not a continuous process, but rather a series of discrete neural changes. How information is processed by the brain during awake and anesthetized states and, crucially, during the transition is not clearly understood. We demonstrate that neuronal dynamics are very different within an interconnecting cortical network (primary somatosensory and frontal premotor area) during the loss of consciousness (LOC) induced by propofol in nonhuman primates. Coherent beta oscillations between these regions are disrupted before LOC. Pronounced but brief gamma-band oscillations appear to correspond to LOC. In addition, neurons in both of these cortices transition from responding to both tactile and auditory stimulation before LOC to only tactile modality during unconsciousness. We demonstrate that propofol-induced LOC is accompanied by spatiotemporally distinctive neuronal dynamics in this network with concurrent changes in multisensory processing. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/367718-09$15.00/0.

Semantic processing in native and second language: evidence from hemispheric differences in fine and coarse semantic coding.

PubMed

Faust, Miriam; Ben-Artzi, Elisheva; Vardi, Nili

2012-12-01

Previous studies suggest that whereas the left hemisphere (LH) is involved in fine semantic processing, the right hemisphere (RH) is uniquely engaged in coarse semantic coding including the comprehension of distinct types of language such as figurative language, lexical ambiguity and verbal humor (e.g., Chiarello, 2003; Faust, 2012). The present study examined the patterns of hemispheric involvement in fine/coarse semantic processing in native and non-native languages using a split visual field priming paradigm. Thirty native Hebrew speaking students made lexical decision judgments of Hebrew and English target words preceded by strongly, weakly, or unrelated primes. Results indicated that whereas for Hebrew pairs, priming effect for the weakly-related word pairs was obtained only for RH presented target words, for English pairs, no priming effect for the weakly-related pairs emerged for either LH or RH presented targets, suggesting that coarse semantic coding is much weaker for a non-native than native language. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differentiation of perceptual and semantic subsequent memory effects using an orthographic paradigm.

PubMed

Kuo, Michael C C; Liu, Karen P Y; Ting, Kin Hung; Chan, Chetwyn C H

2012-11-27

This study aimed to differentiate perceptual and semantic encoding processes using subsequent memory effects (SMEs) elicited by the recognition of orthographs of single Chinese characters. Participants studied a series of Chinese characters perceptually (by inspecting orthographic components) or semantically (by determining the object making sounds), and then made studied or unstudied judgments during the recognition phase. Recognition performance in terms of d-prime measure in the semantic condition was higher, though not significant, than that of the perceptual condition. The between perceptual-semantic condition differences in SMEs at P550 and late positive component latencies (700-1000ms) were not significant in the frontal area. An additional analysis identified larger SME in the semantic condition during 600-1000ms in the frontal pole regions. These results indicate that coordination and incorporation of orthographic information into mental representation is essential to both task conditions. The differentiation was also revealed in earlier SMEs (perceptual>semantic) at N3 (240-360ms) latency, which is a novel finding. The left-distributed N3 was interpreted as more efficient processing of meaning with semantically learned characters. Frontal pole SMEs indicated strategic processing by executive functions, which would further enhance memory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Task-Irrelevant Music on Language Processing: Syntactic and Semantic Structures

PubMed Central

Hoch, Lisianne; Poulin-Charronnat, Benedicte; Tillmann, Barbara

2011-01-01

Recent research has suggested that music and language processing share neural resources, leading to new hypotheses about interference in the simultaneous processing of these two structures. The present study investigated the effect of a musical chord's tonal function on syntactic processing (Experiment 1) and semantic processing (Experiment 2) using a cross-modal paradigm and controlling for acoustic differences. Participants read sentences and performed a lexical decision task on the last word, which was, syntactically or semantically, expected or unexpected. The simultaneously presented (task-irrelevant) musical sequences ended on either an expected tonic or a less-expected subdominant chord. Experiment 1 revealed interactive effects between music-syntactic and linguistic-syntactic processing. Experiment 2 showed only main effects of both music-syntactic and linguistic-semantic expectations. An additional analysis over the two experiments revealed that linguistic violations interacted with musical violations, though not differently as a function of the type of linguistic violations. The present findings were discussed in light of currently available data on the processing of music as well as of syntax and semantics in language, leading to the hypothesis that resources might be shared for structural integration processes and sequencing. PMID:21713122

The influence of rTMS over prefrontal and motor areas in a morphological task: grammatical vs. semantic effects.

PubMed

Gerfo, Emanuele Lo; Oliveri, Massimiliano; Torriero, Sara; Salerno, Silvia; Koch, Giacomo; Caltagirone, Carlo

2008-01-31

We investigated the differential role of two frontal regions in the processing of grammatical and semantic knowledge. Given the documented specificity of the prefrontal cortex for the grammatical class of verbs, and of the primary motor cortex for the semantic class of action words, we sought to investigate whether the prefrontal cortex is also sensitive to semantic effects, and whether the motor cortex is also sensitive to grammatical class effects. We used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to suppress the excitability of a portion of left prefontal cortex (first experiment) and of the motor area (second experiment). In the first experiment we found that rTMS applied to the left prefrontal cortex delays the processing of action verbs' retrieval, but is not critical for retrieval of state verbs and state nouns. In the second experiment we found that rTMS applied to the left motor cortex delays the processing of action words, both name and verbs, while it is not critical for the processing of state words. These results support the notion that left prefrontal and motor cortex are involved in the process of action word retrieval. Left prefrontal cortex subserves processing of both grammatical and semantic information, whereas motor cortex contributes to the processing of semantic representation of action words without any involvement in the representation of grammatical categories.

Differences in Processing of Taxonomic and Sequential Relations in Semantic Memory: An fMRI Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuchinke, Lars; van der Meer, Elke; Krueger, Frank

2009-01-01

Conceptual knowledge of our world is represented in semantic memory in terms of concepts and semantic relations between concepts. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the cortical regions underlying the processing of sequential and taxonomic relations. Participants were presented verbal cues and performed three tasks:…

Complexity and Hemispheric Abilities: Evidence for a Differential Impact on Semantics and Phonology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tremblay, Tania; Monetta, Laura; Joanette, Yves

2009-01-01

The main goal of this study was to determine whether the phonological and semantic processing of words are similarly influenced by an increase in processing complexity. Thirty-six French-speaking young adults performed both semantic and phonological word judgment tasks, using a divided visual field procedure. The phonological complexity of words…

Temporal Sequence of Hemispheric Network Activation during Semantic Processing: A Functional Network Connectivity Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Assaf, Michal; Jagannathan, Kanchana; Calhoun, Vince; Kraut, Michael; Hart, John, Jr.; Pearlson, Godfrey

2009-01-01

To explore the temporal sequence of, and the relationship between, the left and right hemispheres (LH and RH) during semantic memory (SM) processing we identified the neural networks involved in the performance of functional MRI semantic object retrieval task (SORT) using group independent component analysis (ICA) in 47 healthy individuals. SORT…

The Benefits of Sensorimotor Knowledge: Body-Object Interaction Facilitates Semantic Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siakaluk, Paul D.; Pexman, Penny M.; Sears, Christopher R.; Wilson, Kim; Locheed, Keri; Owen, William J.

2008-01-01

This article examined the effects of body-object interaction (BOI) on semantic processing. BOI measures perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. In Experiment 1, BOI effects were examined in 2 semantic categorization tasks (SCT) in which participants decided if words are easily imageable.…

The Question Shapes the Answer: The Neural Correlates of Task Differences Reveal Dynamic Semantic Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargreaves, Ian S.; White, Michelle; Pexman, Penny M.; Pittman, Dan; Goodyear, Brad G.

2012-01-01

Task effects in semantic processing were investigated by contrasting the neural activation associated with two semantic categorization tasks (SCT) using event-related fMRI. The two SCTs involved different decision categories: "is it an animal?" vs. "is it a concrete thing?" Participants completed both tasks and, across participants, the same core…

Atypical Lexical/Semantic Processing in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders without Early Language Delay

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamio, Yoko; Robins, Diana; Kelley, Elizabeth; Swainson, Brook; Fein, Deborah

2007-01-01

Although autism is associated with impaired language functions, the nature of semantic processing in high-functioning pervasive developmental disorders (HFPDD) without a history of early language delay has been debated. In this study, we aimed to examine whether the automatic lexical/semantic aspect of language is impaired or intact in these…

Lexical Processing in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Specific Language Impairment: The Role of Semantics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haebig, Eileen; Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Weismer, Susan Ellis

2015-01-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) often have immature lexical-semantic knowledge; however, the organization of lexical-semantic knowledge is poorly understood. This study examined lexical processing in school-age children with ASD, SLI, and typical development, who were matched on receptive…

Functional Connectivity in an fMRI Study of Semantic and Phonological Processes and the Effect of L-Dopa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tivarus, Madalina E.; Hillier, Ashleigh; Schmalbrock, Petra; Beversdorf, David Q.

2008-01-01

We describe an fMRI experiment examining the functional connectivity (FC) between regions of the brain associated with semantic and phonological processing. We wished to explore whether L-Dopa administration affects the interaction between language network components in semantic and phonological categorization tasks, as revealed by FC. We…

Semantic Boost on Episodic Associations: An Empirically-Based Computational Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silberman, Yaron; Bentin, Shlomo; Miikkulainen, Risto

2007-01-01

Words become associated following repeated co-occurrence episodes. This process might be further determined by the semantic characteristics of the words. The present study focused on how semantic and episodic factors interact in incidental formation of word associations. First, we found that human participants associate semantically related words…

Semantic Search of Web Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hao, Ke

2013-01-01

This dissertation addresses semantic search of Web services using natural language processing. We first survey various existing approaches, focusing on the fact that the expensive costs of current semantic annotation frameworks result in limited use of semantic search for large scale applications. We then propose a vector space model based service…

What Do Graded Effects of Semantic Transparency Reveal about Morphological Processing?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, Laurie Beth; Soltano, Emily G.; Pastizzo, Matthew J.; Francis, Sarah E.

2004-01-01

We examined the influence of semantic transparency on morphological facilitation in English in three lexical decision experiments. Decision latencies to visual targets (e.g., CASUALNESS) were faster after semantically transparent (e.g., CASUALLY) than semantically opaque (e.g., CASUALTY) primes whether primes were auditory and presented…

The Role of Simple Semantics in the Process of Artificial Grammar Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Öttl, Birgit; Jäger, Gerhard; Kaup, Barbara

2017-01-01

This study investigated the effect of semantic information on artificial grammar learning (AGL). Recursive grammars of different complexity levels (regular language, mirror language, copy language) were investigated in a series of AGL experiments. In the with-semantics condition, participants acquired semantic information prior to the AGL…

Dual Processing and Diagnostic Errors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norman, Geoff

2009-01-01

In this paper, I review evidence from two theories in psychology relevant to diagnosis and diagnostic errors. "Dual Process" theories of thinking, frequently mentioned with respect to diagnostic error, propose that categorization decisions can be made with either a fast, unconscious, contextual process called System 1 or a slow, analytical,…

Remembering 'zeal' but not 'thing': reverse frequency effects as a consequence of deregulated semantic processing.

PubMed

Hoffman, Paul; Jefferies, Elizabeth; Ralph, Matthew A Lambon

2011-02-01

More efficient processing of high frequency (HF) words is a ubiquitous finding in healthy individuals, yet frequency effects are often small or absent in stroke aphasia. We propose that some patients fail to show the expected frequency effect because processing of HF words places strong demands on semantic control and regulation processes, counteracting the usual effect. This may occur because HF words appear in a wide range of linguistic contexts, each associated with distinct semantic information. This theory predicts that in extreme circumstances, patients with impaired semantic control should show an outright reversal of the normal frequency effect. To test this prediction, we tested two patients with impaired semantic control with a delayed repetition task that emphasised activation of semantic representations. By alternating HF and low frequency (LF) trials, we demonstrated a significant repetition advantage for LF words, principally because of perseverative errors in which patients produced the previous LF response in place of the HF target. These errors indicated that HF words were more weakly activated than LF words. We suggest that when presented with no contextual information, patients generate a weak and unstable pattern of semantic activation for HF words because information relating to many possible contexts and interpretations is activated. In contrast, LF words are associated with more stable patterns of activation because similar semantic information is activated whenever they are encountered. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The perirhinal cortex and conceptual processing: Effects of feature-based statistics following damage to the anterior temporal lobes.

PubMed

Wright, Paul; Randall, Billi; Clarke, Alex; Tyler, Lorraine K

2015-09-01

The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) plays a prominent role in models of semantic knowledge, although it remains unclear how the specific subregions within the ATL contribute to semantic memory. Patients with neurodegenerative diseases, like semantic dementia, have widespread damage to the ATL thus making inferences about the relationship between anatomy and cognition problematic. Here we take a detailed anatomical approach to ask which substructures within the ATL contribute to conceptual processing, with the prediction that the perirhinal cortex (PRc) will play a critical role for concepts that are more semantically confusable. We tested two patient groups, those with and without damage to the PRc, across two behavioural experiments - picture naming and word-picture matching. For both tasks, we manipulated the degree of semantic confusability of the concepts. By contrasting the performance of the two groups, along with healthy controls, we show that damage to the PRc results in worse performance in processing concepts with higher semantic confusability across both experiments. Further by correlating the degree of damage across anatomically defined regions of interest with performance, we find that PRc damage is related to performance for concepts with increased semantic confusability. Our results show that the PRc supports a necessary and crucial neurocognitve function that enables fine-grained conceptual processes to take place through the resolution of semantic confusability. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Semantic Neighborhood Effects for Abstract versus Concrete Words

PubMed Central

Danguecan, Ashley N.; Buchanan, Lori

2016-01-01

Studies show that semantic effects may be task-specific, and thus, that semantic representations are flexible and dynamic. Such findings are critical to the development of a comprehensive theory of semantic processing in visual word recognition, which should arguably account for how semantic effects may vary by task. It has been suggested that semantic effects are more directly examined using tasks that explicitly require meaning processing relative to those for which meaning processing is not necessary (e.g., lexical decision task). The purpose of the present study was to chart the processing of concrete versus abstract words in the context of a global co-occurrence variable, semantic neighborhood density (SND), by comparing word recognition response times (RTs) across four tasks varying in explicit semantic demands: standard lexical decision task (with non-pronounceable non-words), go/no-go lexical decision task (with pronounceable non-words), progressive demasking task, and sentence relatedness task. The same experimental stimulus set was used across experiments and consisted of 44 concrete and 44 abstract words, with half of these being low SND, and half being high SND. In this way, concreteness and SND were manipulated in a factorial design using a number of visual word recognition tasks. A consistent RT pattern emerged across tasks, in which SND effects were found for abstract (but not necessarily concrete) words. Ultimately, these findings highlight the importance of studying interactive effects in word recognition, and suggest that linguistic associative information is particularly important for abstract words. PMID:27458422

Semantic Neighborhood Effects for Abstract versus Concrete Words.

PubMed

Danguecan, Ashley N; Buchanan, Lori

2016-01-01

Studies show that semantic effects may be task-specific, and thus, that semantic representations are flexible and dynamic. Such findings are critical to the development of a comprehensive theory of semantic processing in visual word recognition, which should arguably account for how semantic effects may vary by task. It has been suggested that semantic effects are more directly examined using tasks that explicitly require meaning processing relative to those for which meaning processing is not necessary (e.g., lexical decision task). The purpose of the present study was to chart the processing of concrete versus abstract words in the context of a global co-occurrence variable, semantic neighborhood density (SND), by comparing word recognition response times (RTs) across four tasks varying in explicit semantic demands: standard lexical decision task (with non-pronounceable non-words), go/no-go lexical decision task (with pronounceable non-words), progressive demasking task, and sentence relatedness task. The same experimental stimulus set was used across experiments and consisted of 44 concrete and 44 abstract words, with half of these being low SND, and half being high SND. In this way, concreteness and SND were manipulated in a factorial design using a number of visual word recognition tasks. A consistent RT pattern emerged across tasks, in which SND effects were found for abstract (but not necessarily concrete) words. Ultimately, these findings highlight the importance of studying interactive effects in word recognition, and suggest that linguistic associative information is particularly important for abstract words.

Must analysis of meaning follow analysis of form? A time course analysis

PubMed Central

Feldman, Laurie B.; Milin, Petar; Cho, Kit W.; Moscoso del Prado Martín, Fermín; O’Connor, Patrick A.

2015-01-01

Many models of word recognition assume that processing proceeds sequentially from analysis of form to analysis of meaning. In the context of morphological processing, this implies that morphemes are processed as units of form prior to any influence of their meanings. Some interpret the apparent absence of differences in recognition latencies to targets (SNEAK) in form and semantically similar (sneaky-SNEAK) and in form similar and semantically dissimilar (sneaker-SNEAK) prime contexts at a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 48 ms as consistent with this claim. To determine the time course over which degree of semantic similarity between morphologically structured primes and their targets influences recognition in the forward masked priming variant of the lexical decision paradigm, we compared facilitation for the same targets after semantically similar and dissimilar primes across a range of SOAs (34–100 ms). The effect of shared semantics on recognition latency increased linearly with SOA when long SOAs were intermixed (Experiments 1A and 1B) and latencies were significantly faster after semantically similar than dissimilar primes at homogeneous SOAs of 48 ms (Experiment 2) and 34 ms (Experiment 3). Results limit the scope of form-then-semantics models of recognition and demonstrate that semantics influences even the very early stages of recognition. Finally, once general performance across trials has been accounted for, we fail to provide evidence for individual differences in morphological processing that can be linked to measures of reading proficiency. PMID:25852512

Must analysis of meaning follow analysis of form? A time course analysis.

PubMed

Feldman, Laurie B; Milin, Petar; Cho, Kit W; Moscoso Del Prado Martín, Fermín; O'Connor, Patrick A

2015-01-01

Many models of word recognition assume that processing proceeds sequentially from analysis of form to analysis of meaning. In the context of morphological processing, this implies that morphemes are processed as units of form prior to any influence of their meanings. Some interpret the apparent absence of differences in recognition latencies to targets (SNEAK) in form and semantically similar (sneaky-SNEAK) and in form similar and semantically dissimilar (sneaker-SNEAK) prime contexts at a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 48 ms as consistent with this claim. To determine the time course over which degree of semantic similarity between morphologically structured primes and their targets influences recognition in the forward masked priming variant of the lexical decision paradigm, we compared facilitation for the same targets after semantically similar and dissimilar primes across a range of SOAs (34-100 ms). The effect of shared semantics on recognition latency increased linearly with SOA when long SOAs were intermixed (Experiments 1A and 1B) and latencies were significantly faster after semantically similar than dissimilar primes at homogeneous SOAs of 48 ms (Experiment 2) and 34 ms (Experiment 3). Results limit the scope of form-then-semantics models of recognition and demonstrate that semantics influences even the very early stages of recognition. Finally, once general performance across trials has been accounted for, we fail to provide evidence for individual differences in morphological processing that can be linked to measures of reading proficiency.

Causal Evidence for a Mechanism of Semantic Integration in the Angular Gyrus as Revealed by High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

PubMed Central

Peelle, Jonathan E.; Bonner, Michael F.; Grossman, Murray

2016-01-01

A defining aspect of human cognition is the ability to integrate conceptual information into complex semantic combinations. For example, we can comprehend “plaid” and “jacket” as individual concepts, but we can also effortlessly combine these concepts to form the semantic representation of “plaid jacket.” Many neuroanatomic models of semantic memory propose that heteromodal cortical hubs integrate distributed semantic features into coherent representations. However, little work has specifically examined these proposed integrative mechanisms and the causal role of these regions in semantic integration. Here, we test the hypothesis that the angular gyrus (AG) is critical for integrating semantic information by applying high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to an fMRI-guided region-of-interest in the left AG. We found that anodal stimulation to the left AG modulated semantic integration but had no effect on a letter-string control task. Specifically, anodal stimulation to the left AG resulted in faster comprehension of semantically meaningful combinations like “tiny radish” relative to non-meaningful combinations, such as “fast blueberry,” when compared to the effects observed during sham stimulation and stimulation to a right-hemisphere control brain region. Moreover, the size of the effect from brain stimulation correlated with the degree of semantic coherence between the word pairs. These findings demonstrate that the left AG plays a causal role in the integration of lexical-semantic information, and that high-definition tDCS to an associative cortical hub can selectively modulate integrative processes in semantic memory. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A major goal of neuroscience is to understand the neural basis of behaviors that are fundamental to human intelligence. One essential behavior is the ability to integrate conceptual knowledge from semantic memory, allowing us to construct an almost unlimited number of complex concepts from a limited set of basic constituents (e.g., “leaf” and “wet” can be combined into the more complex representation “wet leaf”). Here, we present a novel approach to studying integrative processes in semantic memory by applying focal brain stimulation to a heteromodal cortical hub implicated in semantic processing. Our findings demonstrate a causal role of the left angular gyrus in lexical-semantic integration and provide motivation for novel therapeutic applications in patients with lexical-semantic deficits. PMID:27030767

Causal Evidence for a Mechanism of Semantic Integration in the Angular Gyrus as Revealed by High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.

PubMed

Price, Amy Rose; Peelle, Jonathan E; Bonner, Michael F; Grossman, Murray; Hamilton, Roy H

2016-03-30

A defining aspect of human cognition is the ability to integrate conceptual information into complex semantic combinations. For example, we can comprehend "plaid" and "jacket" as individual concepts, but we can also effortlessly combine these concepts to form the semantic representation of "plaid jacket." Many neuroanatomic models of semantic memory propose that heteromodal cortical hubs integrate distributed semantic features into coherent representations. However, little work has specifically examined these proposed integrative mechanisms and the causal role of these regions in semantic integration. Here, we test the hypothesis that the angular gyrus (AG) is critical for integrating semantic information by applying high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to an fMRI-guided region-of-interest in the left AG. We found that anodal stimulation to the left AG modulated semantic integration but had no effect on a letter-string control task. Specifically, anodal stimulation to the left AG resulted in faster comprehension of semantically meaningful combinations like "tiny radish" relative to non-meaningful combinations, such as "fast blueberry," when compared to the effects observed during sham stimulation and stimulation to a right-hemisphere control brain region. Moreover, the size of the effect from brain stimulation correlated with the degree of semantic coherence between the word pairs. These findings demonstrate that the left AG plays a causal role in the integration of lexical-semantic information, and that high-definition tDCS to an associative cortical hub can selectively modulate integrative processes in semantic memory. A major goal of neuroscience is to understand the neural basis of behaviors that are fundamental to human intelligence. One essential behavior is the ability to integrate conceptual knowledge from semantic memory, allowing us to construct an almost unlimited number of complex concepts from a limited set of basic constituents (e.g., "leaf" and "wet" can be combined into the more complex representation "wet leaf"). Here, we present a novel approach to studying integrative processes in semantic memory by applying focal brain stimulation to a heteromodal cortical hub implicated in semantic processing. Our findings demonstrate a causal role of the left angular gyrus in lexical-semantic integration and provide motivation for novel therapeutic applications in patients with lexical-semantic deficits. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/363829-10$15.00/0.

Subliminal speech perception and auditory streaming.

PubMed

Dupoux, Emmanuel; de Gardelle, Vincent; Kouider, Sid

2008-11-01

Current theories of consciousness assume a qualitative dissociation between conscious and unconscious processing: while subliminal stimuli only elicit a transient activity, supraliminal stimuli have long-lasting influences. Nevertheless, the existence of this qualitative distinction remains controversial, as past studies confounded awareness and stimulus strength (energy, duration). Here, we used a masked speech priming method in conjunction with a submillisecond interaural delay manipulation to contrast subliminal and supraliminal processing at constant prime, mask and target strength. This delay induced a perceptual streaming effect, with the prime popping out in the supraliminal condition. By manipulating the prime-target interval (ISI), we show a qualitatively distinct profile of priming longevity as a function of prime awareness. While subliminal priming disappeared after half a second, supraliminal priming was independent of ISI. This shows that the distinction between conscious and unconscious processing depends on high-level perceptual streaming factors rather than low-level features (energy, duration).

Mere exposure and the endowment effect on consumer decision making.

PubMed

Tom, Gail; Nelson, Carolyn; Srzentic, Tamara; King, Ryan

2007-03-01

Previous researchers (e.g., J. A. Bargh, 1992, 2002) demonstrated the importance of nonconscious processes on consumer choice behavior. Using an advertisement, the authors determined the effect of two nonconscious processes--the mere exposure effect, which increases object preference by increasing consumer exposure to an object, and the endowment effect, which increases object valuation by providing consumer possession of an object--on consumer behavior. Although the mere exposure effect and endowment effect did not produce an interaction, they produced independent effects. The endowment effect increased object valuation but not object preference. The mere exposure effect increased object preference but not object valuation. Thus, at the unconscious level, an increase in object preference does not lead to an increase in object valuation, nor does an increase in object valuation lead to an increase in object preference. The authors discuss the importance of developing measures of unconscious process in advertising effectiveness.

Jung, individuation, and moral relativity in Qohelet 7:16--17.

PubMed

Kotzé, Zacharias

2014-04-01

Qohelet's warning in chapter 7:16 'not to be too righteous' has commonly been interpreted by biblical scholars in ways that acquit the author of teaching immorality. This article approaches the text from a psychological critical perspective, bringing it into dialogue with the psychological maturation process of individuation in Jungian psychology. The confrontation with the shadow, made up of reprehensible qualities residing in the unconscious that a person wishes to deny, forms the prologue to this process. Projection or repression of these primitive instincts can lead to various problems, such as stagnation and neurosis. Raising the shadowy, primitive, and archaic content of the unconscious to consciousness and integrating it with the ego, however, leads to a mysterious union of opposites and a new personality, a 'self' that transcends consciousness.

Unconscious identification fantasies and family prehistory.

PubMed

de Mijolla, A

1987-01-01

Discovery of the fact that a subject identifies in an obvious way with another is at first only the awareness of a present process: involuntary mimesis, obedience to early 'identifying designations' or simple imitation deliberately carried out. Much psychic work remains to be done before we can think of such phenomena as 'screen-identifications'. The psychoanalytic interpretation of these dynamic formations will lead to the resolution of genuine 'identification complexes' through the reconstruction of scenarios which I have named 'unconscious identification fantasies'. These fantasies stage characters from the infantile prehistory and family saga of a subject who may be compelled to live out in his behaviour, symptoms, dreams, or even sometimes delusions, episodes pertaining to the past existence of the 'ego's visitors' linked to the most archaic processes that constitute the personality.

Paying less but harvesting more: the effect of unconscious acceptance in regulating frustrating emotion.

PubMed

Ding, NanXiang; Yang, JieMin; Liu, YingYing; Yuan, JiaJin

2015-08-01

Previous studies indicate that emotion regulation may occur unconsciously, without the cost of cognitive effort, while conscious acceptance may enhance negative experiences despite having potential long-term health benefits. Thus, it is important to overcome this weakness to boost the efficacy of the acceptance strategy in negative emotion regulation. As unconscious regulation occurs with little cost of cognitive resources, the current study hypothesizes that unconscious acceptance regulates the emotional consequence of negative events more effectively than does conscious acceptance. Subjects were randomly assigned to conscious acceptance, unconscious acceptance and no-regulation conditions. A frustrating arithmetic task was used to induce negative emotion. Emotional experiences were assessed on the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale while emotion- related physiological activation was assessed by heart-rate reactivity. Results showed that conscious acceptance had a significant negative affective consequence, which was absent during unconscious acceptance. That is, unconscious acceptance was linked with little reduction of positive affect during the experience of frustration, while this reduction was prominent in the control and conscious acceptance groups. Instructed, conscious acceptance resulted in a greater reduction of positive affect than found for the control group. In addition, both conscious and unconscious acceptance strategies significantly decreased emotion-related heart-rate activity (to a similar extent) in comparison with the control condition. Moreover, heart-rate reactivity was positively correlated with negative affect and negatively correlated with positive affect during the frustration phase relative to the baseline phase, in both the control and unconscious acceptance groups. Thus, unconscious acceptance not only reduces emotion-related physiological activity but also better protects mood stability compared with conscious acceptance. This suggests that the clinical practice of acceptance therapy may need to consider using the unconscious priming of an accepting attitude, instead of intentionally instructing people to implement such a strategy, to boost the efficacy of acceptance in emotion regulation.

Probing the influence of unconscious fear-conditioned visual stimuli on eye movements.

PubMed

Madipakkam, Apoorva Rajiv; Rothkirch, Marcus; Wilbertz, Gregor; Sterzer, Philipp

2016-11-01

Efficient threat detection from the environment is critical for survival. Accordingly, fear-conditioned stimuli receive prioritized processing and capture overt and covert attention. However, it is unknown whether eye movements are influenced by unconscious fear-conditioned stimuli. We performed a classical fear-conditioning procedure and subsequently recorded participants' eye movements while they were exposed to fear-conditioned stimuli that were rendered invisible using interocular suppression. Chance-level performance in a forced-choice-task demonstrated unawareness of the stimuli. Differential skin conductance responses and a change in participants' fearfulness ratings of the stimuli indicated the effectiveness of conditioning. However, eye movements were not biased towards the fear-conditioned stimulus. Preliminary evidence suggests a relation between the strength of conditioning and the saccadic bias to the fear-conditioned stimulus. Our findings provide no strong evidence for a saccadic bias towards unconscious fear-conditioned stimuli but tentative evidence suggests that such an effect may depend on the strength of the conditioned response. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distinct cortical codes and temporal dynamics for conscious and unconscious percepts

PubMed Central

Salti, Moti; Monto, Simo; Charles, Lucie; King, Jean-Remi; Parkkonen, Lauri; Dehaene, Stanislas

2015-01-01

The neural correlates of consciousness are typically sought by comparing the overall brain responses to perceived and unperceived stimuli. However, this comparison may be contaminated by non-specific attention, alerting, performance, and reporting confounds. Here, we pursue a novel approach, tracking the neuronal coding of consciously and unconsciously perceived contents while keeping behavior identical (blindsight). EEG and MEG were recorded while participants reported the spatial location and visibility of a briefly presented target. Multivariate pattern analysis demonstrated that considerable information about spatial location traverses the cortex on blindsight trials, but that starting ≈270 ms post-onset, information unique to consciously perceived stimuli, emerges in superior parietal and superior frontal regions. Conscious access appears characterized by the entry of the perceived stimulus into a series of additional brain processes, each restricted in time, while the failure of conscious access results in the breaking of this chain and a subsequent slow decay of the lingering unconscious activity. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05652.001 PMID:25997100

Information presentation format moderates the unconscious-thought effect: The role of recollection.

PubMed

Abadie, Marlène; Waroquier, Laurent; Terrier, Patrice

2016-09-01

The unconscious-thought effect occurs when distraction improves complex decision-making. In two experiments using the unconscious-thought paradigm, we investigated the effect of presentation format of decision information (i) on memory for decision-relevant information and (ii) on the quality of decisions made after distraction, conscious deliberation or immediately. We used the process-dissociation procedure to measure recollection and familiarity. The two studies showed that presenting information blocked per criterion led participants to recollect more decision-relevant details compared to a presentation by option. Moreover, a Bayesian meta-analysis of the two studies provided strong evidence that conscious deliberation resulted in better decisions when the information was presented blocked per criterion and substantial evidence that distraction improved decision quality when the information was presented blocked per option. Finally, Study 2 revealed that the recollection of decision-relevant details mediated the effect of presentation format on decision quality in the deliberation condition. This suggests that recollection contributes to conscious deliberation efficacy.

Who Learns More? Cultural Differences in Implicit Sequence Learning

PubMed Central

Fu, Qiufang; Dienes, Zoltan; Shang, Junchen; Fu, Xiaolan

2013-01-01

Background It is well documented that East Asians differ from Westerners in conscious perception and attention. However, few studies have explored cultural differences in unconscious processes such as implicit learning. Methodology/Principal Findings The global-local Navon letters were adopted in the serial reaction time (SRT) task, during which Chinese and British participants were instructed to respond to global or local letters, to investigate whether culture influences what people acquire in implicit sequence learning. Our results showed that from the beginning British expressed a greater local bias in perception than Chinese, confirming a cultural difference in perception. Further, over extended exposure, the Chinese learned the target regularity better than the British when the targets were global, indicating a global advantage for Chinese in implicit learning. Moreover, Chinese participants acquired greater unconscious knowledge of an irrelevant regularity than British participants, indicating that the Chinese were more sensitive to contextual regularities than the British. Conclusions/Significance The results suggest that cultural biases can profoundly influence both what people consciously perceive and unconsciously learn. PMID:23940773

Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes even for visually masked stimuli

PubMed Central

Peters, Megan A K; Lau, Hakwan

2015-01-01

Many believe that humans can ‘perceive unconsciously’ – that for weak stimuli, briefly presented and masked, above-chance discrimination is possible without awareness. Interestingly, an online survey reveals that most experts in the field recognize the lack of convincing evidence for this phenomenon, and yet they persist in this belief. Using a recently developed bias-free experimental procedure for measuring subjective introspection (confidence), we found no evidence for unconscious perception; participants’ behavior matched that of a Bayesian ideal observer, even though the stimuli were visually masked. This surprising finding suggests that the thresholds for subjective awareness and objective discrimination are effectively the same: if objective task performance is above chance, there is likely conscious experience. These findings shed new light on decades-old methodological issues regarding what it takes to consider a neurobiological or behavioral effect to be 'unconscious,' and provide a platform for rigorously investigating unconscious perception in future studies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09651.001 PMID:26433023

Sensibility to the unconscious (Balint approach).

PubMed

Supe, Svjetlana; Blazeković-Milaković, Sanja; Stojanović-Spehar, Stanislava

2005-12-01

The physician-patient relationship is recognized as having an essential role in the process of medical care, providing the context in which caring and healing can occur. Good patient-doctor relationship goes far deeper than the behaviour of physicians, particularly those behaviours recognized in popular culture as acting in a professional manner, being respectful of the patients' circumstances and bedside manner. The therapeutic relationship is a relationship between two persons--on one side is the patient who is psychologically modified in his illness, in regression, with resistance mechanisms, defences, fears and need for gratification, care and also for secondary profit. On the other side is the physician with his authority, knowledge, personality, habits, defences, unconscious of his own pharmacological effect on the patient, as the most potent drug. In the patient-centred medical model, based on contemporary scientific knowledge of disease, the physician has to understand the patient's "world of illness", and to accept the patient as a person with his whole conscious and unconscious reasons for suffering and not only as a"collection of symptoms".

Distributed semantic networks and CLIPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, James; Rodriguez, Tony

1991-01-01

Semantic networks of frames are commonly used as a method of reasoning in many problems. In most of these applications the semantic network exists as a single entity in a single process environment. Advances in workstation hardware provide support for more sophisticated applications involving multiple processes, interacting in a distributed environment. In these applications the semantic network may well be distributed over several concurrently executing tasks. This paper describes the design and implementation of a frame based, distributed semantic network in which frames are accessed both through C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) expert systems and procedural C++ language programs. The application area is a knowledge based, cooperative decision making model utilizing both rule based and procedural experts.

The timing of anterior temporal lobe involvement in semantic processing.

PubMed

Jackson, Rebecca L; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Pobric, Gorana

2015-07-01

Despite indications that regions within the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) might make a crucial contribution to pan-modal semantic representation, to date there have been no investigations of when during semantic processing the ATL plays a critical role. To test the timing of the ATL involvement in semantic processing, we studied the effect of double-pulse TMS on behavioral responses in semantic and difficulty-matched control tasks. Chronometric TMS was delivered over the left ATL (10 mm from the tip of the temporal pole along the middle temporal gyrus). During each trial, two pulses of TMS (40 msec apart) were delivered either at baseline (before stimulus presentation) or at one of the experimental time points 100, 250, 400, and 800 msec poststimulus onset. A significant disruption to performance was identified from 400 msec on the semantic task but not on the control assessment. Our results not only reinforce the key role of the left ATL in semantic representation but also indicate that its contribution is especially important around 400 msec poststimulus onset. Together, these facts suggest that the ATL may be one of the neural sources of the N400 ERP component.

Remembering the Important Things: Semantic Importance in Stream Reasoning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Rui; Greaves, Mark T.; Smith, William P.

Reasoning and querying over data streams rely on the abil- ity to deliver a sequence of stream snapshots to the processing algo- rithms. These snapshots are typically provided using windows as views into streams and associated window management strategies. Generally, the goal of any window management strategy is to preserve the most im- portant data in the current window and preferentially evict the rest, so that the retained data can continue to be exploited. A simple timestamp- based strategy is rst-in-rst-out (FIFO), in which items are replaced in strict order of arrival. All timestamp-based strategies implicitly assume that a temporalmore » ordering reliably re ects importance to the processing task at hand, and thus that window management using timestamps will maximize the ability of the processing algorithms to deliver accurate interpretations of the stream. In this work, we explore a general no- tion of semantic importance that can be used for window management for streams of RDF data using semantically-aware processing algorithms like deduction or semantic query. Semantic importance exploits the infor- mation carried in RDF and surrounding ontologies for ranking window data in terms of its likely contribution to the processing algorithms. We explore the general semantic categories of query contribution, prove- nance, and trustworthiness, as well as the contribution of domain-specic ontologies. We describe how these categories behave using several con- crete examples. Finally, we consider how a stream window management strategy based on semantic importance could improve overall processing performance, especially as available window sizes decrease.« less

A Comparison of Five FMRI Protocols for Mapping Speech Comprehension Systems

PubMed Central

Binder, Jeffrey R.; Swanson, Sara J.; Hammeke, Thomas A.; Sabsevitz, David S.

2008-01-01

Aims Many fMRI protocols for localizing speech comprehension have been described, but there has been little quantitative comparison of these methods. We compared five such protocols in terms of areas activated, extent of activation, and lateralization. Methods FMRI BOLD signals were measured in 26 healthy adults during passive listening and active tasks using words and tones. Contrasts were designed to identify speech perception and semantic processing systems. Activation extent and lateralization were quantified by counting activated voxels in each hemisphere for each participant. Results Passive listening to words produced bilateral superior temporal activation. After controlling for pre-linguistic auditory processing, only a small area in the left superior temporal sulcus responded selectively to speech. Active tasks engaged an extensive, bilateral attention and executive processing network. Optimal results (consistent activation and strongly lateralized pattern) were obtained by contrasting an active semantic decision task with a tone decision task. There was striking similarity between the network of brain regions activated by the semantic task and the network of brain regions that showed task-induced deactivation, suggesting that semantic processing occurs during the resting state. Conclusions FMRI protocols for mapping speech comprehension systems differ dramatically in pattern, extent, and lateralization of activation. Brain regions involved in semantic processing were identified only when an active, non-linguistic task was used as a baseline, supporting the notion that semantic processing occurs whenever attentional resources are not controlled. Identification of these lexical-semantic regions is particularly important for predicting language outcome in patients undergoing temporal lobe surgery. PMID:18513352

How Semantic Radicals in Chinese characters Facilitate Hierarchical Category-Based Induction.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoxi; Ma, Xie; Tao, Yun; Tao, Yachen; Li, Hong

2018-04-03

Prior studies indicate that the semantic radical in Chinese characters contains category information that can support the independent retrieval of category information through the lexical network to the conceptual network. Inductive reasoning relies on category information; thus, semantic radicals may influence inductive reasoning. As most natural concepts are hierarchically structured in the human brain, this study examined how semantic radicals impact inductive reasoning for hierarchical concepts. The study used animal and plant nouns, organized in basic, superordinate, and subordinate levels; half had a semantic radical and half did not. Eighteen participants completed an inductive reasoning task. Behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) data were collected. The behavioural results showed that participants reacted faster and more accurately in the with-semantic-radical condition than in the without-semantic-radical condition. For the ERPs, differences between the conditions were found, and these differences lasted from the very early cognitive processing stage (i.e., the N1 time window) to the relatively late processing stages (i.e., the N400 and LPC time windows). Semantic radicals can help to distinguish the hierarchies earlier (in the N400 period) than characters without a semantic radical (in the LPC period). These results provide electrophysiological evidence that semantic radicals may improve sensitivity to distinguish between hierarchical concepts.

A coordinate-based ALE functional MRI meta-analysis of brain activation during verbal fluency tasks in healthy control subjects

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The processing of verbal fluency tasks relies on the coordinated activity of a number of brain areas, particularly in the frontal and temporal lobes of the left hemisphere. Recent studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural networks subserving verbal fluency functions have yielded divergent results especially with respect to a parcellation of the inferior frontal gyrus for phonemic and semantic verbal fluency. We conducted a coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on brain activation during the processing of phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks involving 28 individual studies with 490 healthy volunteers. Results For phonemic as well as for semantic verbal fluency, the most prominent clusters of brain activation were found in the left inferior/middle frontal gyrus (LIFG/MIFG) and the anterior cingulate gyrus. BA 44 was only involved in the processing of phonemic verbal fluency tasks, BA 45 and 47 in the processing of phonemic and semantic fluency tasks. Conclusions Our comparison of brain activation during the execution of either phonemic or semantic verbal fluency tasks revealed evidence for spatially different activation in BA 44, but not other regions of the LIFG/LMFG (BA 9, 45, 47) during phonemic and semantic verbal fluency processing. PMID:24456150

Expression and the Unconscious.

PubMed

Feyaerts, Jasper; Vanheule, Stijn

2017-01-01

In the present essay, we aim to develop an expressivist reading of the phenomenon of first-person authority and the adverbial meaning of unconsciousness. In the first part, Wittgenstein's grammatical remarks on the asymmetry between the first -and third-persons in psychological self-ascriptions are developed as an alternative to detectivist explanations according to which first-person authority is to be regarded as a matter of epistemic accomplishment. In the second part, this expressivist account will be used to propose a non-epistemic analysis of the meaning of unconsciousness and to offer a critical discussion of both Freud's and Lacan's respective readings of the unconscious. Regarding the latter, we will reject the idea that the concept of the unconscious (i) necessitates the introduction of a (Cartesian) "subject of the unconscious" and (ii) could be deduced from the paradoxes of first-personal reference.

E-Government Goes Semantic Web: How Administrations Can Transform Their Information Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klischewski, Ralf; Ukena, Stefan

E-government applications and services are built mainly on access to, retrieval of, integration of, and delivery of relevant information to citizens, businesses, and administrative users. In order to perform such information processing automatically through the Semantic Web,1 machine-readable2 enhancements of web resources are needed, based on the understanding of the content and context of the information in focus. While these enhancements are far from trivial to produce, administrations in their role of information and service providers so far find little guidance on how to migrate their web resources and enable a new quality of information processing; even research is still seeking best practices. Therefore, the underlying research question of this chapter is: what are the appropriate approaches which guide administrations in transforming their information processes toward the Semantic Web? In search for answers, this chapter analyzes the challenges and possible solutions from the perspective of administrations: (a) the reconstruction of the information processing in the e-government in terms of how semantic technologies must be employed to support information provision and consumption through the Semantic Web; (b) the required contribution to the transformation is compared to the capabilities and expectations of administrations; and (c) available experience with the steps of transformation are reviewed and discussed as to what extent they can be expected to successfully drive the e-government to the Semantic Web. This research builds on studying the case of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where semantic technologies have been used within the frame of the Access-eGov3 project in order to semantically enhance electronic service interfaces with the aim of providing a new way of accessing and combining e-government services.

SOA-dependent N400 and P300 semantic priming effects using pseudoword primes and a delayed lexical decision.

PubMed

Hill, Holger; Ott, Friederike; Weisbrod, Matthias

2005-06-01

In a previous semantic priming study, we found a semantic distance effect on the lexical-decision-related P300 when SOA was short (150 ms) only, but no different RT and N400 priming effects between short and long (700 ms) SOAs. To investigate this further, we separated priming from lexical decision, using a delayed lexical decision in the present study. In the short SOA only, primed targets evoked an early peaking (approximately 480 ms) P300-like component, probably because the subject detected the semantic relationship implicitly. We hypothesize that in tasks requiring an immediate lexical decision, this early P300 and the later lexical decision P300 (approximately 600 ms) are additive. Secondly, we found both a direct and an indirect priming effect for both SOAs for the ERP amplitude of the N400 time window. However the N400 component itself was considerably larger in the long SOA than in the short SOA. We interpreted this finding as an ERP correlate for deeper semantic processing in the long SOA, due to increased attention that was provoked by the use of pseudoword primes. In contrast, in the short SOA, subjects might have used a shallowed semantic processing. N400, P300, and RTs are sensitive to semantic priming-but the modulation patterns are not consistent. This raises the question as to which variable reflects an immediate physiological correlate of semantic priming, and which variable reflects co-occurring processes associated with semantic priming.

Left ventral occipitotemporal activation during orthographic and semantic processing of auditory words.

PubMed

Ludersdorfer, Philipp; Wimmer, Heinz; Richlan, Fabio; Schurz, Matthias; Hutzler, Florian; Kronbichler, Martin

2016-01-01

The present fMRI study investigated the hypothesis that activation of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) in response to auditory words can be attributed to lexical orthographic rather than lexico-semantic processing. To this end, we presented auditory words in both an orthographic ("three or four letter word?") and a semantic ("living or nonliving?") task. In addition, a auditory control condition presented tones in a pitch evaluation task. The results showed that the left vOT exhibited higher activation for orthographic relative to semantic processing of auditory words with a peak in the posterior part of vOT. Comparisons to the auditory control condition revealed that orthographic processing of auditory words elicited activation in a large vOT cluster. In contrast, activation for semantic processing was only weak and restricted to the middle part vOT. We interpret our findings as speaking for orthographic processing in left vOT. In particular, we suggest that activation in left middle vOT can be attributed to accessing orthographic whole-word representations. While activation of such representations was experimentally ascertained in the orthographic task, it might have also occurred automatically in the semantic task. Activation in the more posterior vOT region, on the other hand, may reflect the generation of explicit images of word-specific letter sequences required by the orthographic but not the semantic task. In addition, based on cross-modal suppression, the finding of marked deactivations in response to the auditory tones is taken to reflect the visual nature of representations and processes in left vOT. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lexical-Semantic Processing and Reading: Relations between Semantic Priming, Visual Word Recognition and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nobre, Alexandre de Pontes; de Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate relations between lexical-semantic processing and two components of reading: visual word recognition and reading comprehension. Sixty-eight children from private schools in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 7 to 12 years, were evaluated. Reading was assessed with a word/nonword reading task and a reading…

The Neural Correlates of Infant and Adult Goal Prediction: Evidence for Semantic Processing Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Vincent M.; Hoehl, Stefanie; Grigutsch, Maren; Groendahl, Anna; Parise, Eugenio; Striano, Tricia

2009-01-01

The sequential nature of action ensures that an individual can anticipate the conclusion of an observed action via the use of semantic rules. The semantic processing of language and action has been linked to the N400 component of the event-related potential (ERP). The authors developed an ERP paradigm in which infants and adults observed simple…

Semantic memory processing is enhanced in preadolescents breastfed compared to those formula-fed as infants: An ERP N400 study of sentential semantic congruity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Studies comparing child cognitive development and brain activity during cognitive functions between children who were fed breast milk (BF), milk formula (MF), or soy formula (SF) have not been reported. We recorded event-related scalp potentials reflecting semantic processing (N400 ERP) from 20 homo...

Semantic Richness and Word Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gladfelter, Allison; Goffman, Lisa

2018-01-01

Semantically rich learning contexts facilitate semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with typical development (TD). However, because children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show differences at each of these processing levels, it is unclear whether they will benefit from semantic cues in the same manner…

Auditory Distraction in Semantic Memory: A Process-Based Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsh, John E.; Hughes, Robert W.; Jones, Dylan M.

2008-01-01

Five experiments demonstrate auditory-semantic distraction in tests of memory for semantic category-exemplars. The effects of irrelevant sound on category-exemplar recall are shown to be functionally distinct from those found in the context of serial short-term memory by showing sensitivity to: The lexical-semantic, rather than acoustic,…

Influences of Semantic and Prosodic Cues on Word Repetition and Categorization in Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Leher; Harrow, MariLouise S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To investigate sensitivity to prosodic and semantic cues to emotion in individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA). Method: Emotional prosody and semantics were independently manipulated to assess the relative influence of prosody versus semantics on speech processing. A sample of 10-year-old typically developing children (n = 10) and…

A Learning Content Authoring Approach Based on Semantic Technologies and Social Networking: An Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nesic, Sasa; Gasevic, Dragan; Jazayeri, Mehdi; Landoni, Monica

2011-01-01

Semantic web technologies have been applied to many aspects of learning content authoring including semantic annotation, semantic search, dynamic assembly, and personalization of learning content. At the same time, social networking services have started to play an important role in the authoring process by supporting authors' collaborative…

Written language impairments in primary progressive aphasia: a reflection of damage to central semantic and phonological processes.

PubMed

Henry, Maya L; Beeson, Pélagie M; Alexander, Gene E; Rapcsak, Steven Z

2012-02-01

Connectionist theories of language propose that written language deficits arise as a result of damage to semantic and phonological systems that also support spoken language production and comprehension, a view referred to as the "primary systems" hypothesis. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the primary systems account in a mixed group of individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) by investigating the relation between measures of nonorthographic semantic and phonological processing and written language performance and by examining whether common patterns of cortical atrophy underlie impairments in spoken versus written language domains. Individuals with PPA and healthy controls were administered a language battery, including assessments of semantics, phonology, reading, and spelling. Voxel-based morphometry was used to examine the relation between gray matter volumes and language measures within brain regions previously implicated in semantic and phonological processing. In accordance with the primary systems account, our findings indicate that spoken language performance is strongly predictive of reading/spelling profile in individuals with PPA and suggest that common networks of critical left hemisphere regions support central semantic and phonological processes recruited for spoken and written language.

Direct Exploration of the Role of the Ventral Anterior Temporal Lobe in Semantic Memory: Cortical Stimulation and Local Field Potential Evidence From Subdural Grid Electrodes

PubMed Central

Shimotake, Akihiro; Matsumoto, Riki; Ueno, Taiji; Kunieda, Takeharu; Saito, Satoru; Hoffman, Paul; Kikuchi, Takayuki; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Miyamoto, Susumu; Takahashi, Ryosuke; Ikeda, Akio; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

2015-01-01

Semantic memory is a crucial higher cortical function that codes the meaning of objects and words, and when impaired after neurological damage, patients are left with significant disability. Investigations of semantic dementia have implicated the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) region, in general, as crucial for multimodal semantic memory. The potentially crucial role of the ventral ATL subregion has been emphasized by recent functional neuroimaging studies, but the necessity of this precise area has not been selectively tested. The implantation of subdural electrode grids over this subregion, for the presurgical assessment of patients with partial epilepsy or brain tumor, offers the dual yet rare opportunities to record cortical local field potentials while participants complete semantic tasks and to stimulate the functionally identified regions in the same participants to evaluate the necessity of these areas in semantic processing. Across 6 patients, and utilizing a variety of semantic assessments, we evaluated and confirmed that the anterior fusiform/inferior temporal gyrus is crucial in multimodal, receptive, and expressive, semantic processing. PMID:25491206

The N400 reveals how personal semantics is processed: Insights into the nature and organization of self-knowledge.

PubMed

Coronel, Jason C; Federmeier, Kara D

2016-04-01

There is growing recognition that some important forms of long-term memory are difficult to classify into one of the well-studied memory subtypes. One example is personal semantics. Like the episodes that are stored as part of one's autobiography, personal semantics is linked to an individual, yet, like general semantic memory, it is detached from a specific encoding context. Access to general semantics elicits an electrophysiological response known as the N400, which has been characterized across three decades of research; surprisingly, this response has not been fully examined in the context of personal semantics. In this study, we assessed responses to congruent and incongruent statements about people's own, personal preferences. We found that access to personal preferences elicited N400 responses, with congruency effects that were similar in latency and distribution to those for general semantic statements elicited from the same participants. These results suggest that the processing of personal and general semantics share important functional and neurobiological features. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implicit and explicit forgetting: when is gist remembered?

PubMed

Dorfman, J; Mandler, G

1994-08-01

Recognition (YES/NO) and stem completion (cued: complete with a word from the list; and uncued: complete with the first word that comes to mind) were tested following either semantic or non-semantic processing of a categorized input list. Item/instance information was tested by contrasting target items from the input list with new items that were categorically related to them; gist/categorical information was tested by comparing target items semantically related to the input items with unrelated new items. For both recognition and stem completion, regardless of initial processing condition, item information decayed rapidly over a period of one week. Gist information was maintained over the same period when initial processing was semantic but only in the cued condition for completion. These results are discussed in terms of dual process theory, which postulates activation/integration of a representation as primarily relevant to implicit item information and elaboration of a representation as mainly relevant to semantic (i.e. categorical) information.

Grammatical markers switch roles and elicit different electrophysiological responses under shallow and deep semantic requirements.

PubMed

Soshi, Takahiro; Nakajima, Heizo; Hagiwara, Hiroko

2016-10-01

Static knowledge about the grammar of a natural language is represented in the cortico-subcortical system. However, the differences in dynamic verbal processing under different cognitive conditions are unclear. To clarify this, we conducted an electrophysiological experiment involving a semantic priming paradigm in which semantically congruent or incongruent word sequences (prime nouns-target verbs) were randomly presented. We examined the event-related brain potentials that occurred in response to congruent and incongruent target words that were preceded by primes with or without grammatical case markers. The two participant groups performed either the shallow (lexical judgment) or deep (direct semantic judgment) semantic tasks. We hypothesized that, irrespective of the case markers, the congruent targets would reduce centro-posterior N400 activities under the deep semantic condition, which induces selective attention to the semantic relatedness of content words. However, the same congruent targets with correct case markers would reduce lateralized negativity under the shallow semantic condition because grammatical case markers are related to automatic structural integration under semantically unattended conditions. We observed that congruent targets (e.g., 'open') that were preceded by primes with congruent case markers (e.g., 'shutter-object case') reduced lateralized negativity under the shallow semantic condition. In contrast, congruent targets, irrespective of case markers, consistently yielded N400 reductions under the deep semantic condition. To summarize, human neural verbal processing differed in response to the same grammatical markers in the same verbal expressions under semantically attended or unattended conditions.

An fMRI study of semantic processing in men with schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Kubicki, M.; McCarley, R.W.; Nestor, P.G.; Huh, T.; Kikinis, R.; Shenton, M.E.; Wible, C.G.

2009-01-01

As a means toward understanding the neural bases of schizophrenic thought disturbance, we examined brain activation patterns in response to semantically and superficially encoded words in patients with schizophrenia. Nine male schizophrenic and 9 male control subjects were tested in a visual levels of processing (LOP) task first outside the magnet and then during the fMRI scanning procedures (using a different set of words). During the experiments visual words were presented under two conditions. Under the deep, semantic encoding condition, subjects made semantic judgments as to whether the words were abstract or concrete. Under the shallow, nonsemantic encoding condition, subjects made perceptual judgments of the font size (uppercase/lowercase) of the presented words. After performance of the behavioral task, a recognition test was used to assess the depth of processing effect, defined as better performance for semantically encoded words than for perceptually encoded words. For the scanned version only, the words for both conditions were repeated in order to assess repetition-priming effects. Reaction times were assessed in both testing scenarios. Both groups showed the expected depth of processing effect for recognition, and control subjects showed the expected increased activation of the left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPC) under semantic encoding relative to perceptual encoding conditions as well as repetition priming for semantic conditions only. In contrast, schizophrenics showed similar patterns of fMRI activation regardless of condition. Most striking in relation to controls, patients showed decreased LIFC activation concurrent with increased left superior temporal gyrus activation for semantic encoding versus shallow encoding. Furthermore, schizophrenia subjects did not show the repetition priming effect, either behaviorally or as a decrease in LIPC activity. In patients with schizophrenia, LIFC underactivation and left superior temporal gyrus overactivation for semantically encoded words may reflect a disease-related disruption of a distributed frontal temporal network that is engaged in the representation and processing of meaning of words, text, and discourse and which may underlie schizophrenic thought disturbance. PMID:14683698

Using ontology-based semantic similarity to facilitate the article screening process for systematic reviews.

PubMed

Ji, Xiaonan; Ritter, Alan; Yen, Po-Yin

2017-05-01

Systematic Reviews (SRs) are utilized to summarize evidence from high quality studies and are considered the preferred source of evidence-based practice (EBP). However, conducting SRs can be time and labor intensive due to the high cost of article screening. In previous studies, we demonstrated utilizing established (lexical) article relationships to facilitate the identification of relevant articles in an efficient and effective manner. Here we propose to enhance article relationships with background semantic knowledge derived from Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts and ontologies. We developed a pipelined semantic concepts representation process to represent articles from an SR into an optimized and enriched semantic space of UMLS concepts. Throughout the process, we leveraged concepts and concept relations encoded in biomedical ontologies (SNOMED-CT and MeSH) within the UMLS framework to prompt concept features of each article. Article relationships (similarities) were established and represented as a semantic article network, which was readily applied to assist with the article screening process. We incorporated the concept of active learning to simulate an interactive article recommendation process, and evaluated the performance on 15 completed SRs. We used work saved over sampling at 95% recall (WSS95) as the performance measure. We compared the WSS95 performance of our ontology-based semantic approach to existing lexical feature approaches and corpus-based semantic approaches, and found that we had better WSS95 in most SRs. We also had the highest average WSS95 of 43.81% and the highest total WSS95 of 657.18%. We demonstrated using ontology-based semantics to facilitate the identification of relevant articles for SRs. Effective concepts and concept relations derived from UMLS ontologies can be utilized to establish article semantic relationships. Our approach provided a promising performance and can easily apply to any SR topics in the biomedical domain with generalizability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An fMRI study of semantic processing in men with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Kubicki, M; McCarley, R W; Nestor, P G; Huh, T; Kikinis, R; Shenton, M E; Wible, C G

2003-12-01

As a means toward understanding the neural bases of schizophrenic thought disturbance, we examined brain activation patterns in response to semantically and superficially encoded words in patients with schizophrenia. Nine male schizophrenic and 9 male control subjects were tested in a visual levels of processing (LOP) task first outside the magnet and then during the fMRI scanning procedures (using a different set of words). During the experiments visual words were presented under two conditions. Under the deep, semantic encoding condition, subjects made semantic judgments as to whether the words were abstract or concrete. Under the shallow, nonsemantic encoding condition, subjects made perceptual judgments of the font size (uppercase/lowercase) of the presented words. After performance of the behavioral task, a recognition test was used to assess the depth of processing effect, defined as better performance for semantically encoded words than for perceptually encoded words. For the scanned version only, the words for both conditions were repeated in order to assess repetition-priming effects. Reaction times were assessed in both testing scenarios. Both groups showed the expected depth of processing effect for recognition, and control subjects showed the expected increased activation of the left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPC) under semantic encoding relative to perceptual encoding conditions as well as repetition priming for semantic conditions only. In contrast, schizophrenics showed similar patterns of fMRI activation regardless of condition. Most striking in relation to controls, patients showed decreased LIFC activation concurrent with increased left superior temporal gyrus activation for semantic encoding versus shallow encoding. Furthermore, schizophrenia subjects did not show the repetition priming effect, either behaviorally or as a decrease in LIPC activity. In patients with schizophrenia, LIFC underactivation and left superior temporal gyrus overactivation for semantically encoded words may reflect a disease-related disruption of a distributed frontal temporal network that is engaged in the representation and processing of meaning of words, text, and discourse and which may underlie schizophrenic thought disturbance.

Scientific creativity: a review.

PubMed

Boxenbaum, H

1991-01-01

Aside from possession of the relevant knowledge, skills, and intelligence, what seems to characterize the creative scientist is his imagination, originality, and ingenuity in combining existing knowledge into a new and unified scheme. This creativity frequently emerges from an aesthetic, poetic sense of freedom derived from work, an uninhibited playful activity of exploring a medium for its own sake. We speculate thus: With a preference for irregularities and disorder, the creative scientist temporarily takes leave of his senses, permitting expression of unconfigurated forces of his irrational unconscious. This amounts to a kind of internal "wagering," in which the scientist pits himself against uncertain circumstances, a situation in which his individual effort can be the deciding factor. When working on a difficult problem, there frequently occurs a "creative worrying" in which the problem is consciously and unconsciously carried around while doing other tasks. This period is attended by frustrations, tensions, and false inspirations. Dream and reality are wedded in a largely unconscious process of undefined emotional turmoil. When a uniquely gratifying association is realized, the unconscious deposits its collection of insights into the fringe consciousness, whereupon the full consciousness seizes on it and releases it as a flash of insight. Because the creative scientist possesses a strong and exacting self-concept, he can organize, integrate, and even exploit the conflict within himself. By compensating in fantasy for what is missing in reality, creativeness can be an expressive outlet ameliorating the universal, annoying split between a man's inner unconscious world and his outer conscious world. Although there is a divergence of opinion as to whether creativity can be taught, there is agreement that it can be fostered. However, parents, teachers, and institutions must display considerably more flexibility and tolerance towards individually minded persons who behave in seemingly nonconformist ways.

Unconscious biases in task choices depend on conscious expectations.

PubMed

González-García, Carlos; Tudela, Pío; Ruz, María

2015-12-01

Recent studies highlight the influence of non-conscious information on task-set selection. However, it has not yet been tested whether this influence depends on conscious settings, as some theoretical models propose. In a series of three experiments, we explored whether non-conscious abstract cues could bias choices between a semantic and a perceptual task. In Experiment 1, we observed a non-conscious influence on task-set selection even when perceptual priming and cue-target compound confounds did not apply. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that, under restrictive conditions of visibility, cues only biased task selection when the conscious task-setting mindset led participants to search for information during the time period of the cue. However, this conscious strategy did not modulate the effect found when a subjective measure of consciousness was used. Altogether, our results show that the configuration of the conscious mindset determines the potential bias of non-conscious information on task-set selection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural Correlates of Semantic Prediction and Resolution in Sentence Processing.

PubMed

Grisoni, Luigi; Miller, Tally McCormick; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2017-05-03

Most brain-imaging studies of language comprehension focus on activity following meaningful stimuli. Testing adult human participants with high-density EEG, we show that, already before the presentation of a critical word, context-induced semantic predictions are reflected by a neurophysiological index, which we therefore call the semantic readiness potential (SRP). The SRP precedes critical words if a previous sentence context constrains the upcoming semantic content (high-constraint contexts), but not in unpredictable (low-constraint) contexts. Specific semantic predictions were indexed by SRP sources within the motor system-in dorsolateral hand motor areas for expected hand-related words (e.g., "write"), but in ventral motor cortex for face-related words ("talk"). Compared with affirmative sentences, negated ones led to medial prefrontal and more widespread motor source activation, the latter being consistent with predictive semantic computation of alternatives to the negated expected concept. Predictive processing of semantic alternatives in negated sentences is further supported by a negative-going event-related potential at ∼400 ms (N400), which showed the typical enhancement to semantically incongruent sentence endings only in high-constraint affirmative contexts, but not to high-constraint negated ones. These brain dynamics reveal the interplay between semantic prediction and resolution (match vs error) processing in sentence understanding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Most neuroscientists agree on the eminent importance of predictive mechanisms for understanding basic as well as higher brain functions. This contrasts with a sparseness of brain measures that directly reflects specific aspects of prediction, as they are relevant in the processing of language and thought. Here we show that when critical words are strongly expected in their sentence context, a predictive brain response reflects meaning features of these anticipated symbols already before they appear. The granularity of the semantic predictions was so fine grained that the cortical sources in sensorimotor and medial prefrontal cortex even distinguished between predicted face- or hand-related action words (e.g., the words "lick" or "pick") and between affirmative and negated sentence meanings. Copyright © 2017 Grisoni et al.

Neural Correlates of Semantic Prediction and Resolution in Sentence Processing

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Most brain-imaging studies of language comprehension focus on activity following meaningful stimuli. Testing adult human participants with high-density EEG, we show that, already before the presentation of a critical word, context-induced semantic predictions are reflected by a neurophysiological index, which we therefore call the semantic readiness potential (SRP). The SRP precedes critical words if a previous sentence context constrains the upcoming semantic content (high-constraint contexts), but not in unpredictable (low-constraint) contexts. Specific semantic predictions were indexed by SRP sources within the motor system—in dorsolateral hand motor areas for expected hand-related words (e.g., “write”), but in ventral motor cortex for face-related words (“talk”). Compared with affirmative sentences, negated ones led to medial prefrontal and more widespread motor source activation, the latter being consistent with predictive semantic computation of alternatives to the negated expected concept. Predictive processing of semantic alternatives in negated sentences is further supported by a negative-going event-related potential at ∼400 ms (N400), which showed the typical enhancement to semantically incongruent sentence endings only in high-constraint affirmative contexts, but not to high-constraint negated ones. These brain dynamics reveal the interplay between semantic prediction and resolution (match vs error) processing in sentence understanding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Most neuroscientists agree on the eminent importance of predictive mechanisms for understanding basic as well as higher brain functions. This contrasts with a sparseness of brain measures that directly reflects specific aspects of prediction, as they are relevant in the processing of language and thought. Here we show that when critical words are strongly expected in their sentence context, a predictive brain response reflects meaning features of these anticipated symbols already before they appear. The granularity of the semantic predictions was so fine grained that the cortical sources in sensorimotor and medial prefrontal cortex even distinguished between predicted face- or hand-related action words (e.g., the words “lick” or “pick”) and between affirmative and negated sentence meanings. PMID:28411271

Influence of supraliminal reward information on unconsciously triggered response inhibition.

PubMed

Diao, Liuting; Ding, Cody; Qi, Senqing; Zeng, Qinghong; Huang, Bo; Xu, Mengsi; Fan, Lingxia; Yang, Dong

2014-01-01

Although executive functions (e.g., response inhibition) are often thought to interact consciously with reward, recent studies have demonstrated that they can also be triggered by unconscious stimuli. Further research has suggested a close relationship between consciously and unconsciously triggered response inhibition. To date, however, the effect of reward on unconsciously triggered response inhibition has not been explored. To address this issue, participants in this study performed runs of a modified Go/No-Go task during which they were exposed to both high and low value monetary rewards presented both supraliminally and subliminally. Participants were informed that they would earn the reward displayed if they responded correctly to each trial of the run. According to the results, when rewards were presented supraliminally, a greater unconsciously triggered response inhibition was observed for high-value rewards than for low-value rewards. In contrast, when rewards were presented subliminally, no enhanced unconsciously triggered response inhibition was observed. Results revealed that supraliminal and subliminal rewards have distinct effects on unconsciously triggered response inhibition. These findings have important implications for extending our understanding of the relationship between reward and response inhibition.

Influence of Supraliminal Reward Information on Unconsciously Triggered Response Inhibition

PubMed Central

Diao, Liuting; Ding, Cody; Qi, Senqing; Zeng, Qinghong; Huang, Bo; Xu, Mengsi; Fan, Lingxia; Yang, Dong

2014-01-01

Although executive functions (e.g., response inhibition) are often thought to interact consciously with reward, recent studies have demonstrated that they can also be triggered by unconscious stimuli. Further research has suggested a close relationship between consciously and unconsciously triggered response inhibition. To date, however, the effect of reward on unconsciously triggered response inhibition has not been explored. To address this issue, participants in this study performed runs of a modified Go/No-Go task during which they were exposed to both high and low value monetary rewards presented both supraliminally and subliminally. Participants were informed that they would earn the reward displayed if they responded correctly to each trial of the run. According to the results, when rewards were presented supraliminally, a greater unconsciously triggered response inhibition was observed for high-value rewards than for low-value rewards. In contrast, when rewards were presented subliminally, no enhanced unconsciously triggered response inhibition was observed. Results revealed that supraliminal and subliminal rewards have distinct effects on unconsciously triggered response inhibition. These findings have important implications for extending our understanding of the relationship between reward and response inhibition. PMID:25268227

Exploring semantic and phonological picture-word priming in adults who stutter using event-related potentials

PubMed Central

Maxfield, Nathan D.; Pizon-Moore, Angela A.; Frisch, Stefan A.; Constantine, Joseph L.

2011-01-01

Objective Our aim was to investigate how semantic and phonological information is processed in adults who stutter (AWS) preparing to name pictures, following-up a report that event-related potentials (ERPs) in AWS evidenced atypical semantic picture-word priming (Maxfield et al., 2010). Methods Fourteen AWS and 14 typically-fluent adults (TFA) participated. Pictures, named at a delay, were followed by probe words. Design elements not used in Maxfield et al. (2010) let us evaluate both phonological and semantic picture-word priming. Results TFA evidenced typical priming effects in probe-elicited ERPs. AWS evidenced diminished Semantic priming, and reverse Phonological N400 priming. Conclusions Results point to atypical processing of semantic and phonological information in AWS. Discussion considers whether AWS ERP effects reflect unstable activation of target label semantic and phonological representations, strategic inhibition of target label phonological neighbors, and/or phonological label-probe competition. Significance Results raise questions about how mechanisms that regulate activation spreading operate in AWS. PMID:22055837

A familiar pattern? Semantic memory contributes to the enhancement of visuo-spatial memories.

PubMed

Riby, Leigh M; Orme, Elizabeth

2013-03-01

In this study we quantify for the first time electrophysiological components associated with incorporating long-term semantic knowledge with visuo-spatial information using two variants of a traditional matrix patterns task. Results indicated that the matrix task with greater semantic content was associated with enhanced accuracy and RTs in a change-detection paradigm; this was also associated with increased P300 and N400 components as well as a sustained negative slow wave (NSW). In contrast, processing of the low semantic stimuli was associated with an increased N200 and a reduction in the P300. These findings suggest that semantic content can aid in reducing early visual processing of information and subsequent memory load by unitizing complex patterns into familiar forms. The N400/NSW may be associated with the requirements for maintaining visuo-spatial information about semantic forms such as orientation and relative location. Evidence for individual differences in semantic elaboration strategies used by participants is also discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the influence of affective states on intuitive coherence judgements.

PubMed

Balas, Robert; Sweklej, Joanna; Pochwatko, Grzegorz; Godlewska, Malgorzata

2012-01-01

Recent research has shown that coherence judgements of semantically related word triads are facilitated by a subtle positive response triggered by their increased fluency of processing. Such positive affective response serves as a cue indicating semantic coherence. However, we argue that the fluency of processing is not the only source of affective response that can influence intuitive judgements. The present study investigated differential influences of mood and affective valence of solution words on intuitive coherence judgements. We show that affective cues resulting from processing fluency can be strengthened or weakened by inducing positive or negative affective response through the activation of solutions to semantically coherent triads. Also, mood is shown to impact the breadth of activated associations therefore affecting not only judgements of semantic coherence but also solvability of word triads. We discuss the implications of our findings for how people might form intuitive judgements of semantic coherence.

Intuitive and Deliberate Judgments Are Based on Common Principles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kruglanski, Arie W.; Gigerenzer, Gerd

2011-01-01

A popular distinction in cognitive and social psychology has been between "intuitive" and "deliberate" judgments. This juxtaposition has aligned in dual-process theories of reasoning associative, unconscious, effortless, heuristic, and suboptimal processes (assumed to foster intuitive judgments) versus rule-based, conscious, effortful, analytic,…

Mainstream body-character breach films and subjectivization.

PubMed

Meiri, Sandra; Kohen-Raz, Odeya

2017-02-01

The authors analyze a unique cinematic corpus - 'body-character breach films' (one character, initially played by a certain actor, occupies the body of another character) - demonstrating Lacan's notion of traversing the fantasy, both on the level of the films' diegesis and that of spectatorship. Breaching the alliance between actors and their characters perturbs the viewer's fantasy of wholeness enabled by this very alliance. Consequently, a change in subject/spectatorial position in relation to the lack in the Other is induced, enhanced through the visualization of various scenarios of unconscious fantasies (mostly incest). These are meant to unsettle the spectator into an awareness of how a conscious fantasy conceals another unconscious fundamental fantasy, thereby encouraging a change in spectatorial position (from 'perverse'/fetishistic to 'neurotic'). Conflating this change with Lacan's notion of traversing the fantasy, the authors contend that mainstream cinema has the capacity to induce a process of subjectivization (assuming responsibility for one's own desire). This process is contingent on four conditions: identification with the protagonist's fantasy to conceal the lack in the Other; dissolution of this fantasy, initiated by the body-character breach; rhetorical strategies (the coding of unconscious scenarios cinematically); and an ethical dimension (encouraging the subject/spectator to follow her/his desire). Copyright © 2016 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Neural activity induced by visual food stimuli presented out of awareness: a preliminary magnetoencephalography study.

PubMed

Takada, Katsuko; Ishii, Akira; Matsuo, Takashi; Nakamura, Chika; Uji, Masato; Yoshikawa, Takahiro

2018-02-15

Obesity is a major public health problem in modern society. Appetitive behavior has been proposed to be partially driven by unconscious decision-making processes and thus, targeting the unconscious cognitive processes related to eating behavior is essential to develop strategies for overweight individuals and obese patients. Here, we presented food pictures below the threshold of awareness to healthy male volunteers and examined neural activity related to appetitive behavior using magnetoencephalography. We found that, among participants who did not recognize food pictures during the experiment, an index of heart rate variability assessed by electrocardiography (low-frequency component power/high-frequency component power ratio, LF/HF) just after picture presentation was increased compared with that just before presentation, and the increase in LF/HF was negatively associated with the score for cognitive restraint of food intake. In addition, increased LF/HF was negatively associated with increased alpha band power in Brodmann area (BA) 47 caused by food pictures presented below the threshold of awareness, and level of cognitive restraint was positively associated with increased alpha band power in BA13. Our findings may provide valuable clues to the development of methods assessing unconscious regulation of appetite and offer avenues for further study of the neural mechanisms related to eating behavior.