<p>Globally, the misinformation crisis exposed the need for cognitive researchers to</p> <p>investigate interventions that will mitigate the influence of misinformation within memory. One</p> <p>proposed solution is a retraction, whereby misinformation is indicated to be inaccurate. Previous</p> <p>studies have demonstrated that providing a retraction after misinformation may reduce references</p> <p>to misinformation. The continued reliance on misinformation even after it has been corrected is</p> <p>known as the continued influence effect (CIE). It is unclear whether repeated retractions and the</p> <p>spacing of repeated retractions can reduce the CIE. In the present study, two experiments were</p> <p>conducted to investigate whether spacing repeated retractions among news messages would be</p> <p>more effective at reducing the CIE compared to massing retractions. Both experiments exposed</p> <p>participants to a news story containing misinformation. Each experiment included four retraction</p> <p>conditions: no retraction, a single retraction, or repeated retractions that were spaced or massed.</p> <p>In Experiment 1, a single retraction reduced reliance on misinformation, but we did not observe</p> <p>an additional benefit of repeated retractions when there were two retractions. In Experiment 2, we</p> <p>provided participants with three repeated retractions. Using this stronger manipulation, repeated</p> <p>retractions reduced references to misinformation compared to a single retraction, but there was no</p> <p>benefit of spacing them out. Collectively, our results suggest that repeating corrective messages</p> <p>can help reduce references to misinformation, with no supporting evidence that it matters how</p> <p>the repetitions are organized.</p>

<p>Anticipating the occurrence of a future event is an ability that helps people prepare for various daily activities. This preparation is regarded as a non-specific process because it is initiated by a warning signal that does not contain specific information about the critical event. Previous research reported that the intertrial repetition of a stimulus-response event in a choice-reaction task shortened the reaction time more at the short foreperiod (interval between the end of the warning signal and onset of the target stimulus). I conducted four experiments to investigate whether the interaction was due to the event sequence effect being overridden by preparation processes (“overriding” hypothesis) or the quick-decaying characteristic of the event sequence effect itself (“quick-decay” hypothesis). Experiments 1 and 2 manipulated the relative magnitudes of the preparation effect by changing how foreperiods were distributed within a trial block. The results showed similar asymmetric event sequence effects, which indicated that whether preparation was better at the short or long foreperiod did not affect the event-based modulation. Experiment 3 manipulated the temporal distance between two consecutive stimulus-response events across trial blocks and found that the asymmetric event-based modulation on preparation was diminished by a long enough inter-trial interval. The final experiment compared alerting trials with no-alerting trials and found an asymmetric event-based modulation caused by the absence of repetition benefit in a certain context (an alerting trial preceded by a no-alerting trial). Therefore, the event sequence effect is not directly related to “nonspecific preparation”, but this event-specific component could be embedded in the measurement of preparation in some scenarios, which could lead to misinterpretation of the preparation effect itself. This finding clarifies the mechanism underlying the interaction between preparation and event sequence. The conclusion also questions the validity of the current measures of nonspecific preparation, including temporal preparation and phasic alertness.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Spatial navigation is a complex skill that relies on many aspects of cognition. The following</p><p dir="ltr">studies aimed to clarify the role of working memory in spatial navigation, and particularly, the</p><p dir="ltr">potentially differential contributions of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Study 1</p><p dir="ltr">leveraged individual differences to understand how working memory differs among types of</p><p dir="ltr">navigators and the predictiveness of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Participants</p><p dir="ltr">completed multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial working memory and spatial navigation.</p><p dir="ltr">Study 2 further evaluated the impact of a working memory load on spatial navigation performance.</p><p dir="ltr">Using a dual-task paradigm, the decrement (or not) of performance on spatial navigation can be</p><p dir="ltr">compared between control, verbal, and visuospatial conditions. Study 1 showed that individual</p><p dir="ltr">differences in visuospatial working memory are more predictive than verbal working memory.</p><p dir="ltr">However, Study 2 provides evidence for the necessary role for both verbal and visuospatial</p><p dir="ltr">working memory.</p>

Researchers have argued that a reason for non-medical use of prescription psychostimulants is to self-medicate an undiagnosed case of ADHD. Therefore, this study examined neuropsychological complaints in college students with and without a history of prescription psychostimulant use. College students (N = 615) completed an Internet-based survey assessing behaviors associated with prescription psychostimulant use and symptoms of neuropsychological impairment. The results of the current study support the hypothesis that college students who non-medically use prescription psychostimulants report more symptoms of cognitive impairment (i.e., memory and attention complaints) than college students classified as non-users. Complaints about memory and attention were as common in non-medical users as medical users. Overall, the results suggest that non-medical users may use prescription psychostimulants due to perceived symptoms of ADHD.

<p dir="ltr">The implementation of vibrotactile stimuli has grown in necessity where visual and auditory modalities are overloaded. However, how attention is oriented using vibrotactile information has been minimally investigated compared to other modalities, such as visual and auditory stimuli. The ability to elicit an appropriate mapping between a response from a specific vibrotactile stimulus can be explained in three different frames of reference accounts: internal, external, or remapping. Previous research has answered questions relating to the ability to use different reference frames but have yet to agree which frame orients attention for creating an automatic response. Using various stimulus-response mapping effects, the current study investigated how competing frames of reference are used to orient attention to select a response based on specific characteristics of vibrotactile stimuli. Experiment 1 validated the novel apparatus developed for this study by obtaining a stimulus-response compatibility effect. Experiment 2 investigated if an external or internal reference frame is used to orient attention automatically. The uncrossed-hands condition provided a replication of Experiment 1 and confirmed that a stimulus-response compatibility effect was present. For the crossed-hands condition, a diminished, reverse stimulus-response compatibility effect was present. Experiment 3 found no meaningful difference between a magnitude aligned (i.e., left associated with low frequency) versus misaligned (i.e., left associated with high frequency) conditions for frequency of vibrotactile stimuli, suggesting vibrotactile stimuli do not hold a mental magnitude line. Overall, the results from Experiments 1 and 2 provide evidence that processing of vibrotactile information is not reliant on only an internal reference frame but instead the external frame has some influence on selecting a motor response. Experiment 3 also suggests that task context influenced the stimulus and response mapping provided in the instructions, rather than the intrinsic, anatomical representation of vibrotactile stimuli.</p>

Traffic signs are ubiquitous in the road environment, and are a crucial and cost-effective means of ensuring traffic safety. In Queensland, Australia, a class of temporary traffic signs is used for roadwork applications, and has recently been expanded to include Multiple-Message Signs: a novel, and as yet empirically untested system, which presents numerous advantages in terms of flexibility and economy. However, potential Human Factors problems surround aspects of the design of multiple message signs. In particular, the efficiency with which information is communication may be compromised relative to single message signs. The project involved a series of laboratory studies focussing on the behavioural requirements of temporary roadworks signs, beginning with the improvement of response characteristics of a sign used to communicate lane-closure. In the first empirical study, a proposed redesign of the Lane-Status sign based on principles of warning communication was found to be more effective than the original sign. The same sign was then examined in the context of multiple-message presentation, and significant cost s with respect to the speed and accuracy of responses relative to single-message presentation were found. A subsequent study investigated multiple-message presentation of speed limit information, which is more familiar and widely encountered than lane-closure information. Similar costs for multiple-message presentation were found. However, there were data to suggest that the additional information in multiple-message signs, if used correctly, may offer drivers and additional incentive to reduce speed. The next two studies were concerned with the effects of presentation, content type (e.g., speed-limit, symbolic and text-based) and visual clutter on recognition and visual search for traffic signs. The presentation of information via multiple message signs was compared with spatially distributed single message signs, with information matched with respect to message length and sign content. Overall advantages for multiple message presentation were found for recognition, which were particularly robust for speed limit information. The results for visual search indicated some benefits to multiple message presentation, but were less decisive than those for recognition. The final two studies investigated the possibility of improving response characteristics of single-message signs with sequential, rather then individual presentation. The role of the temporal interval between successive sign presentations was explored, which has implications for the feasibility of sequential presentation in practice. In addition, the nature of sign pairs presented in sequence – identical, or of the same meaning – was found to be important. Generally, benefits to sequential presentation diminished with increases in the temporal separation interval. In terms of practical implications, the viability of introducing the proposed design changes to the Lane Status sign is discussed. The results pertaining to multiple-message sign are evaluated in the context of published design guidelines, and theoretical and practical issues surrounding sequential sign presentation are reviewed. Finally, possibilities for future research, in part based on the limitations of the current work, are expounded.

Traffic signs are ubiquitous in the road environment, and are a crucial and cost-effective means of ensuring traffic safety. In Queensland, Australia, a class of temporary traffic signs is used for roadwork applications, and has recently been expanded to include Multiple-Message Signs: a novel, and as yet empirically untested system, which presents numerous advantages in terms of flexibility and economy. However, potential Human Factors problems surround aspects of the design of multiple message signs. In particular, the efficiency with which information is communication may be compromised relative to single message signs. The project involved a series of laboratory studies focussing on the behavioural requirements of temporary roadworks signs, beginning with the improvement of response characteristics of a sign used to communicate lane-closure. In the first empirical study, a proposed redesign of the Lane-Status sign based on principles of warning communication was found to be more effective than the original sign. The same sign was then examined in the context of multiple-message presentation, and significant cost s with respect to the speed and accuracy of responses relative to single-message presentation were found. A subsequent study investigated multiple-message presentation of speed limit information, which is more familiar and widely encountered than lane-closure information. Similar costs for multiple-message presentation were found. However, there were data to suggest that the additional information in multiple-message signs, if used correctly, may offer drivers and additional incentive to reduce speed. The next two studies were concerned with the effects of presentation, content type (e.g., speed-limit, symbolic and text-based) and visual clutter on recognition and visual search for traffic signs. The presentation of information via multiple message signs was compared with spatially distributed single message signs, with information matched with respect to message length and sign content. Overall advantages for multiple message presentation were found for recognition, which were particularly robust for speed limit information. The results for visual search indicated some benefits to multiple message presentation, but were less decisive than those for recognition. The final two studies investigated the possibility of improving response characteristics of single-message signs with sequential, rather then individual presentation. The role of the temporal interval between successive sign presentations was explored, which has implications for the feasibility of sequential presentation in practice. In addition, the nature of sign pairs presented in sequence – identical, or of the same meaning – was found to be important. Generally, benefits to sequential presentation diminished with increases in the temporal separation interval. In terms of practical implications, the viability of introducing the proposed design changes to the Lane Status sign is discussed. The results pertaining to multiple-message sign are evaluated in the context of published design guidelines, and theoretical and practical issues surrounding sequential sign presentation are reviewed. Finally, possibilities for future research, in part based on the limitations of the current work, are expounded.

<p>The technology availability and hype of virtual reality has intersected as of 2016, bringing a lot of attention to virtual reality (VR) games. The research into this technology has been ongoing since its early exploration in the 1970’s. Methods have been created to try to understand and predict what causes phenomena such as motion and simulator sickness in the human computer interaction devices. Heuristics have been developed to aid the design these applications and to avoid such discomforting circumstances. Concepts and their continued exploration have been growing to improve the experience of virtual reality technology and continue the expanding imagination of what is capable with this technology. All the tools are available to create highly immersive virtual experiences, but it is up to the interpretant, the user to decide how believable, immersive and enjoyable these experiences are. By conducting an interview study on a part of the VR gaming community, more can be understood about the success and failure of immersive design by exploring the experiences of certain highly immersive games. This study takes the opportunity to listen to gamers as a means of highlighting significant key challenges and characteristics creating immersive VR games. By evaluating transcripts via thematic analysis, themes were created to understand and categorize the various aspects that are most important to the immersion and embodiment in VR games. This study and themes drawn from it reflect on the experiences and feelings of experienced VR gamers in the context of role-playing games.</p>

Regular use of illegal drugs is suspected to cause cognitive impairments. Two substances have received heightened attention: 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ‘ecstasy’) and δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC or ‘cannabis’). Preclinical evidence, as well as human studies examining regular ecstasy consumers, indicated that ecstasy use may have negative effects on learning, verbal memory and complex attentional functions. Cannabis has also been linked to symptoms of inattention and deficits in learning and memory. Most of the published studies in this field of research recruited participants by means of newspaper advertisements or by using word-of-mouth strategies. Because participants were usually aware that their drug use was critical to the research design, this awareness may have caused selection bias or created expectation effects. Focussing on attention and memory, this study aimed to assess cognitive functioning in a community-based representative sample that was derived from a large-scale epidemiological study. Available data concerning drug use history allowed sampling of subjects with varying degrees of lifetime drug experiences. Cognitive functioning was examined in 284 young participants, between 22 and 34 years. In general, their lifetime drug experience was moderate. Participants completed a neuropsychological test battery, including measures for verbal learning, memory and various attentional functions. Linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between cognitive functioning and lifetime experience of drug use. Ecstasy and cannabis use were significantly related to poorer episodic memory function in a dose-related manner. For attentional measures, decrements of small effect sizes were found. Error measures in tonic and phasic alertness tasks, selective attention task and vigilance showed small but significant effects, suggesting a stronger tendency to experience lapses of attention. No indication for differences in reaction time was found. The results are consistent with decrements of memory and attentional performance described in previous studies. These effects are relatively small; however, it must be kept in mind that this study focussed on assessing young adults with moderate drug use from a population-based study.

The diploma thesis is focused on educator's function in development of nonspeech areas of children with communicative disability. The thesis consists of two main parts. The theoretical part is divided into four chapters which gradually introduce the development of the child at a younger school age, communicative disability, nonspeech areas of comunication and education of children with communicative disability. This information provides a basic insight into issues of work and makes it easier to be well informed about topic. The empirical part presents the qualitative research in which four pupils with communicative disability are involved. The aim of the research is to find out the difficulties in nonspeech areas and what influence the educator of the after-school club can have on their development. Sensory perception, cognitive processes and motor skills are analyzed in accoradance with these goals. Changes between investigations are also observed. The chapter contains case studies of pupils that include personal and family history, individual children's abilities, social interaction and information about speech therapy. Furthermore, the results of the entry and control examination are presented in detail. Based on evaluation of results, answers to research questions are formulated. The chapter...