Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño

Attentional Distractor Interference May Be Diminished by Concurrent Working Memory Load in Normal Participants and Traumatic Brain Injury Patients.

A reduction in congruency effects under working memory (WM) load has been previously described using different attentional paradigms (e.g., Kim, Kim, & Chun, 2005; Smilek, Enns, Eastwood, & Merikle, 2006). One hypothesis is that different types of WM load have different effects on attentional selection, depending on whether a specific memory load demands resources in common with target or distractor processing. In particular, if information in WM is related to the distractors in the selective attention task, there is a reduction in distraction (Kim et al., 2005). However, although previous results seem to point to a decrease in interference under high WM load conditions (Kim et al., 2005), the lack of a neutral baseline for the congruency effects makes it difficult to differentiate between a decrease in interference or in facilitation. In the present work we included neutral trials in the task introduced by Kim et al. (2005) and tested normal participants and traumatic brain injury patients. Results support a reduction in the processing of distractors under WM load, at least for incongruent trials in both groups. Theoretical as well as applied implications are discussed.

Can concurrent memory load reduce distraction? A replication study and beyond.

The effects of concurrent working memory load in attentional processes have been 1 of the most puzzling issues in cognitive psychology. Studies have shown detrimental effects, no effects, and even beneficial effects of working memory load in different attentional tasks. In the present study we attempted to replicate Kim, Kim, and Chuns (2005, Experiment 3b) findings of beneficial effects of concurrent working memory load in a spatial Stroop-like task. In 3 experiments in which our sample was 3 times larger than that in the original Kim et al. study, we could not replicate their findings. The results are discussed in terms of what may have produced the conflicting results, trying to shed light on how working memory load affects attentional tasks. Also, we emphasize the importance of using adequately large samples in cognitive research. Although we acknowledge the relevance of meta-analyses to analyze conflicting results, in the present article we stress (perhaps more important) the power of an essential trademark in science for research development: replicability.

The types of stimuli loaded in memory can modulate its effects on visual search

The effects of memory load in visual search (VS) have shown a diversity of results from the absence through beneficial and detrimental effects of a concurrent memory load in VS performance. One of the hypotheses intended to explain the heterogeneity of results follows the idea proposed by certain models in the context of VS that the contents of working memory (WM) can modulate the attentional processes involved in VS (Desimone & Duncan, 1995; Duncan & Humphreys, 1989). In four experiments, we manipulated the similarity of information maintained in WM and those materials playing the role of target and distractors in the VS task. The results showed a beneficial effect in the first two experiments, where the materials in WM matched the target in VS. However, when they matched the distractors in the attentional task there is no effect in the slope of the search function. Present results strengthen those theories supporting that visual working memory is fractionated to allow for maintenance of items not essential to the attentional task (Downing & Dodds, 2004).

Peer Effects in Unethical Behavior: Standing or Reputation?

Recent empirical evidence shows that working in an unsupervised, isolated situation under competition, can increase dishonest behavior to achieve prestige. However, could working in a common space, in the presence of colleagues affect cheating? Here, we examine how familiar-peer influence, supervision and social incentives affect worker performance and dishonest behavior. First, we show that working in the presence of peers is an effective mechanism to constrain honest/dishonest behavior compared to an isolated work situation (experiment 1). Second, we demonstrate that the mere suspicion of dishonesty from another peer is not enough to affect individual cheating behavior (experiment 2), suggesting that reputation holds great importance in a worker’s self-image acting as a strong social incentives. Third, we show that when the suspicion of dishonesty increases with multiple peers behaving dishonestly, the desire to increase standing is sufficient to nudge individuals’ behavior back to cheating at the same levels as isolated situations (experiment 3).

Economía, Psicología e Inversión en Bolsa: análisis de las variables que participan en el proceso de toma de decisiones

The ININBE questionnaire has been recently validated in order to measure the variables that affect individual investor behavior in stock exchange. The lack of information about the methodology, items selection and psychometric properties of the instruments used in other researches has shown the necessary to elaborate and validate a questionnaire. In the present work we have applied the ININBE questionnaire to 257 individual investors. We have found interesting results about the relationship between the “psychological” and “economical” variables with individual investor’s characteristics.

The role of emotions arising from instability in investment behaviour / El papel de la carga emocional de la inestabilidad en el comportamiento de inversión

Abstract Clear empirical evidence has been found on how significant changes to a person’s environment can alter their behaviour. This is important when considering investments made on the stock exchange as the variations that occur in stock market prices are frequent and continuous. This study analyses the role instability has on individual investors’ behaviour when investing in the stock market. The results suggest that instability in investment situations plays a significant role in individual investors’ behaviour, probably due to the emotional effect provoked by the possibility of suddenly losing savings. This would modify the perception investors have about investing as well as their intentions, attitudes and feelings of control in regards to investment in financial markets, thus hindering the capacity to predict their behaviour.

Active working memory tasks interfere with inefficient search but NOT with efficient search, guided by bottom-up salience.

It is still unclear how working memory representations bias attentional selection in visual search and, specifically, how that bias affects top-down and/or bottom-up guidance in search. Researchers studying the influence of Working Memory (WM) load in visual search have found some discrepant data, sometimes showing a WM modulation (e.g. Oh & Kim, 2004) but sometimes finding lack of effects of passive working memory loads on search (e.g. Woodman, Vogel & Luck, 2001). However, recent data have shown that active working memory tasks do modulate visual search performance (Gil-Gómez de Liaño, Drew, Quirós & Wolfe, 2014). Does the effect of active WM tasks occur both for efficient and inefficient searches? We compared WM effects on a relatively inefficient search for a specific object among heterogeneous distractor objects and efficient search for a salient object among homogeneous distractors. As in Gil-Gómez de Liaño et al. (2014), we used two active WM tasks: active-span tasks and updating n-back tasks. In the first active-span task, participants had to count how many times WM items were repeated through several visual search trials. In the second task, information in WM had to be updated during the search task. The results show that active WM tasks only interfered with inefficient search tasks, not with efficient search. Moreover, inefficient searches, but not efficient ones, were sensitive to the degree of WM load: high WM loads in the active-span and updating tasks, produced higher RT x set size slopes in search (control-no load: 21 msec/item, high load-active span: 36 msec/item, high load-updating: 34 msec/item). No differences were found for slopes in efficient search (control-no load: 0.44 msec/item, high load-active span: 1.96 msec/item, high load-updating: 2.79 msec/item). The results suggest that active working memory loads specifically interfere with top-down guidance during visual search, but not under bottom-up guided search. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.