Event files: feature binding in and across perception and action

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 494-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Hommel
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 215-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Kleimaker ◽  
Alexander Kleimaker ◽  
Christian Beste ◽  
Soyoung Q. Park ◽  
Alexander Maximilian Münchau

Abstract. Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a common, multifaceted neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics. Although numerous neuroanatomical and neurophysiological particularities have been documented, there is no general concept or overarching theory to explain the pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome. Given the premonitory urges that precede tics and the altered sensorimotor processing in Tourette syndrome, the “Theory of Event Coding” (TEC) seems to be an attractive framework. TEC assumes that perceptions and actions are bound together and encoded using the same neural code to form so-called “event files.” Depending on the strength of the binding between perception and action, partial repetition of features of an event file can lead to increasing cost because existing event files need to be reconfigured. This is referred to as “partial repetition costs”, which appear to be increased in Tourette patients. This indicates stronger binding within “event files” in Tourette.


Author(s):  
Bernhard Hommel ◽  
Niek Stevenson

AbstractAttitudes (or opinions, preferences, biases, stereotypes) can be considered bindings of the perceptual features of the attitudes’ object to affective codes with positive or negative connotations, which effectively renders them “event files” in terms of the Theory of Event Coding. We tested a particularly interesting implication of this theoretical account: that affective codes might “migrate” from one event file to another (i.e., effectively function as a component of one while actually being part of another), if the two files overlap in terms of other features. We tested this feature-migration hypothesis by having participants categorize pictures of fictitious outer space characters as members of two fictitious races by pressing a left or right key, and to categorize positive and negative pictures of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) as positive and negative by using the same two keys. When the outer space characters were later rated for likability, members of the race that was categorized by means of the same key as positive IAPS pictures were liked significantly more than members of the race that was categorized with the same key as negative IAPS pictures – suggesting that affective feature codes from the event files for the IAPS pictures effectively acted as an ingredient of event files for the outer space characters that shared the same key. These findings were fully replicated in a second experiment in which the two races were replaced by two unfamiliar fonts. These outcomes are consistent with the claim that attitudes, opinions, and preferences are represented in terms of event files and created by feature binding.


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