Guillermo Macbeth

Crossmodal integration between visual linguistic information and flavour perception

Many studies have found processing interference in working memory when complex information that enters the cognitive system from different modalities has to be integrated to understand the environment and promote adjustment. Here, we report on a Stroop study that provides evidence concerned with the crossmodal processing of flavour perception and visual language. We found a facilitation effect in the congruency condition. Acceleration was observed for incomplete words and anagrams compared to complete words. A crossmodal completion account is presented for such findings. It is concluded that the crossmodal integration between flavour and visual language perception requires the active participation of top-down and bottom-up processing.

A decision making account for the cognitive processing of DeMorgan´s laws

Procesamiento cognitivo de las leyes de Morgan: Un enfoque de toma de decisiones. El objetivo del presente estudio consiste en proponer una descripcion preliminar del comportamiento espontaneo del pensamiento humano en tareas de razonamiento relacionadas con las equivalencias logicas atribuidas a Augustus DeMorgan. Estas equivalencias relacionadas con la negacion de conjunciones y disyunciones se han estudiado previamente solo en relacion con silogismos, pero no desde la toma de decisiones. Se realizo un estudio exploratorio online para poner a prueba dos hipotesis. La primera hipotesis sostiene que la ley de Morgan para conjunciones es mas facil de reconocer intuitivamente que la correspondiente ley para disyunciones. La segunda afirma que los errores en estas tareas son regulados por un patron cognitivo. La evidencia obtenida resulto incompatible con la primera hipotesis y compatible con la segunda. Se propuso un heuristico para explicar la inesperada facilidad con que los sujetos reconocieron la ley de disyunciones pero no la de conjunciones. Se propusieron finalmente lineamientos para futuras investigaciones. The aim of this contribution is to propose a preliminary account for the intuitive recognition of the logical equivalences attributed to Augustus DeMorgan. Such equivalences concerned with the negation of conjunctions and disjunctions have been previoulsy studied only in the context of syllogistic tasks, but not from the perspective of decision making. An on� line exploratory study was conducted to test two hypotheses. The first hypothesis states that DeMorgans law for the negation of conjunctions is easier to recognize than the corresponding law for the disjunctions case. The second hypothesis states that spontaneous errors in the recognition of DeMorgans laws follow a cognitive pattern. The results obtained for the first hypothesis suggest that the disjunctions case is more intuitive than the conjunctions case. An heuristic explanation for such unexpected result is suggested. The second hypothesis testing results suggest that the observed errors are not random. Suggestions for future research are proposed. |

Three Strategies for the Critical Use of Statistical Methods in Psychological Research

We present three strategies to replace the null hypothesis statistical significance testing approach in psychological research: (1) visual representation of cognitive processes and predictions, (2) visual representation of data distributions and choice of the appropriate distribution for analysis, and (3) model comparison. The three strategies have been proposed earlier, so we do not claim originality. Here we propose to combine the three strategies and use them not only as analytical and reporting tools but also to guide the design of research. The first strategy involves a visual representation of the cognitive processes involved in solving the task at hand in the form of a theory or model together with a representation of a pattern of predictions for each condition. The second approach is the GAMLSS approach, which consists of providing a visual representation of distributions to fit the data, and choosing the best distribution that fits the raw data for further analyses. The third strategy is the model comparison approach, which compares the model of the researcher with alternative models. We present a worked example in the field of reasoning, in which we follow the three strategies.

Chronometrical Evidence Supports the Model Theory of Negation

We aimed to study how compound negation of conjunctions and disjunctions is understood and represented. In particular, we aimed to test time course predictions consistent with the Mental Models Theory of negation proposed in 2012 by Khemlani, Orenes, and Johnson-Laird. Consistent with this theory, we conjectured that the consideration of possibilities elicited by any given information regulates the processing of compound negation. We studied response type patterns to replicate previous findings as well as response time patterns to generate novel chronometrical evidence. We conducted a within-subjects experiment to test a set of five experimental hypotheses. We used a sentence-equivalence task. Participants were asked to find a logical equivalence for a given compound negation of a conjunction or a disjunction. Four possible response options were presented, but only one of them was correct according to sentential logic. We also tested predictions derived from theories that argue against the Mental Models Theory. The evidence resulted consistent with the model theory of negation and incompatible with alternative accounts. In particular, our results did not support the Psychology of Proof and the Dual-Process approach to negation.

CORRELACIÓN ENTRE AUTOESTIMA Y CALIBRACIÓN EN TAREAS DE RAZONAMIENTO ABSTRACTO (Correlation between self-esteem and calibration in abstract reasoning tasks)

El presente trabajo se propone: i) extender el estudio de la calibracion psicologica, entendida como convergencia o divergencia empirica entre el exito subjetivo y el exito objetivo, al dominio del razonamiento abstracto y; ii) estudiar la posible correlacion entre calibracion y autoestima, como se ha sugerido en contribuciones previas. Con tal proposito se realizo un estudio con el test de matrices progresivas de Raven y con la escala de autoestima de Rosenberg. Se hallaron sesgos de la calibracion y una correlacion significativa entre el exito subjetivo y la autoestima. No se hallo covariacion entre la autoestima y el exito objetivo, ni entre la autoestima y la calibracion. Se discuten los alcances de estos resultados y se ofrecen sugerencias para futuras investigaciones. Palabras clave : Cognicion - Autoestima – Calibracion psicologica – Razonamiento. ABSTRACT This paper proposes, i) to extend the research on psychological calibration, in terms of empirical convergence or divergence between subjective and objective success to the domain of abstract reasoning tasks; and ii) to study a possible correlation between calibration and self-esteem, as it has been suggested by previous contributions. To carry out this purpose a study was conducted using the Ravens Progressive Matrices test and the Rosenberg’s self - esteem scale. Calibration bias and a meaningful correlation between the subjective success and self esteem were found, but there were no findings between covaration and auto esteem, neither between objective success nor self esteem and calibration. These results implications are discussed and suggestions for future studies are provided. Key words: Cognition - Self-Esteem – Psychological Calibration – Reasoning .