Simple RT Task vs. Chocolate Cravings: The Battle Between Automatic and Conscious Processes

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Ruppel ◽  
Kim A. Purdy
Keyword(s):  
Conscious Processes ◽  
Simple Rt

Focusing of Visuospatial Attention

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Pesce ◽  
Rainer Bösel
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Spatial Relation ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Visuospatial Attention ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Simple Rt

Abstract In the present study we explored the focusing of visuospatial attention in subjects practicing and not practicing activities with high attentional demands. Similar to the studies of Castiello and Umiltà (e. g., 1990) , our experimental procedure was a variation of Posner's (1980) basic paradigm for exploring covert orienting of visuospatial attention. In a simple RT-task, a peripheral cue of varying size was presented unilaterally or bilaterally from a central fixation point and followed by a target at different stimulus-onset-asynchronies (SOAs). The target could occur validly inside the cue or invalidly outside the cue with varying spatial relation to its boundary. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and reaction times (RTs) were recorded to target stimuli under the different task conditions. RT and ERP findings showed converging aspects as well as dissociations. Electrophysiological results revealed an amplitude modulation of the ERPs in the early and late Nd time interval at both anterior and posterior scalp sites, which seems to be related to the effects of peripheral informative cues as well as to the attentional expertise. Results were: (1) shorter latency effects confirm the positive-going amplitude enhancement elicited by unilateral peripheral cues and strengthen the criticism against the neutrality of spatially nonpredictive peripheral cueing of all possible target locations which is often presumed in behavioral studies. (2) Longer latency effects show that subjects with attentional expertise modulate the distribution of the attentional resources in the visual space differently than nonexperienced subjects. Skilled practice may lead to minimizing attentional costs by automatizing the use of a span of attention that is adapted to the most frequent task demands and endogenously increases the allocation of resources to cope with less usual attending conditions.

scholarly journals Conscious and Non-Conscious Processes Regulate Minority Older Adults’ Sedentary Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 335-335
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Maher ◽  
Derek Hevel ◽  
Kourtney Sappenfield ◽  
Heidi Scheer ◽  
Christine Zecca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Sedentary Behavior ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Black African ◽  
Affective Consequences ◽  
Introductory Session ◽  
Conscious Processes ◽  
Multilevel Linear Regression ◽  
Age Range

Abstract Accumulating evidence suggests that sedentary behavior (SB), or time spent sitting, is regulated by both conscious (e.g., intentions) and non-conscious (e.g., habits) motivational processes. Much of the work investigating these processes has employed summary-based measures of typical motivation and behavior. This study employed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods and accelerometry to determine the extent to which conscious and non-conscious processes regulate minority older adults’ momentary decisions to engage in SB. Over the course of the 8-day study, minority older adults (N=91; age range: 60-89 years, 96% Black/African American) answered 6 EMA questionnaires/day on a mobile phone and wore an ActivPAL activity monitor to measure SB. EMA questionnaires assessed momentary intentions to limit SB over the next two hours. SB habit strength was self-reported at an introductory session. Results from a multilevel linear regression model indicated that on occasions when individuals had stronger intentions than usual to limit SB, they subsequently engaged in less SB (b=-3.72, p<0.01). Individuals who had stronger SB habits, tended to engage in more SB (b=3.00, p<0.01). An additional multilevel model revealed that habits did not significantly moderate the association between momentary intentions and subsequent SB (b=-1.06, p=0.09). In conclusion, minority older adults’ momentary SB appears to be directly influenced by both conscious and non-conscious motivational processes, though the interactive effects are unclear. Interventions to reduce minority older adults’ SB should include content to increase intentions to limit SB (e.g., information on instrumental and affective consequences) and disrupt habitual SB (e.g., action planning).

scholarly journals Traumatic Brain Injury, Aging and Reaction Time

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.T. Stuss ◽  
L.L. Stethem ◽  
T.W. Picton ◽  
E.E. Leech ◽  
G. Pelchat
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Redundant Information ◽  
Complex Reaction ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Simple Rt

ABSTRACT:The effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and aging were compared on tests of simple and complex reaction time (RT). Simple RT was not significantly affected by aging or TBI. TBI patients, however, tended to be slower on Simple RT tasks, and had a larger standard deviation. Individuals over age 60 and patients of any age with TBI demonstrated slower RT with choice RT tests. In addition, both groups (those over 60 and TBI patients) were less able than other groups to inhibit the processing of redundant information. For the TBI patients, this occurred primarily on reassessment. These results suggest that the deficit in both aging and TBI is not only a generalized neuronal slowing but a more specific impairment in attentional control processes, exhibited as a deficit in focused attention.

Maybe it helps to be conscious, after all

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy F. Baumeister ◽  
Kathleen D. Vohs ◽  
E. J. Masicampo
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Unconscious Processes ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
Conscious Processes

AbstractPsychologists debate whether consciousness or unconsciousness is most central to human behavior. Our goal, instead, is to figure out how they work together. Conscious processes are partly produced by unconscious processes, and much information processing occurs outside of awareness. Yet, consciousness has advantages that the unconscious does not. We discuss how consciousness causes behavior, drawing conclusions from large-scale literature reviews.

Process Philosophy and Its Problems

1997 ◽  
pp. xxiv-8
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Process Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Language ◽  
Conscious Processes ◽  
Basic Insight

This chapter presents the nature, basic insight, and linguistic difficulties of process philosophy. Process philosophy is an answer to the being vs. becoming, permanence vs. change problematic which has been central to metaphysical speculation since the time of the Greeks. Two inseparable notions constitute the foundational insight of Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy: the permanence of value achieved and the ongoingness of value achievement. His purpose in writing Process and Reality is to construct a metaphysical scheme capable of elucidating the implications of these notions. The remainder of the chapter discusses the Whitehead's construction of a novel philosophical language and his use of language of consciousness in interpretations of non-conscious processes.

Explaining continuous improvement

2021 ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
John Toner ◽  
Barbara Gail Montero ◽  
Aidan Moran
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Skill Maintenance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Situational Demands ◽  
High Level ◽  
Conscious Processes ◽  
Automated Procedures

The final chapter synthesizes the arguments presented over the course of the book by suggesting that skill execution continues to be governed by conscious processes even after performers have attained a high level of expertise. It argues that skill-focused attention is necessary if experts are to eschew proceduralization and react flexibly to ‘crises’ and fine-grained changes in situational demands. In doing so, it discusses the role played by conscious control, reflection, and bodily awareness in maintaining performance proficiency. It suggests that skill maintenance and continuous improvement are underpinned by the use of both automated procedures (acknowledging that these are inherently active and flexible) and metacognitive knowledge. The chapter concludes by briefly considering how skill-focused attention needs to be applied in both training and performance contexts in order to facilitate continuous improvement.

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