@article{KrauseBekkeringLindemann2013, author = {Krause, Florian and Bekkering, Harold and Lindemann, Oliver}, title = {A feeling for numbers shared metric for symbolic and tactile numerosities}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {4}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, number = {3}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00007}, pages = {8}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Evidence for an approximate analog system of numbers has been provided by the finding that the comparison of two numerals takes longer and is more error-prone if the semantic distance between the numbers becomes smaller (so-called numerical distance effect). Recent embodied theories suggest that analog number representations are based on previous sensory experiences and constitute therefore a common magnitude metric shared by multiple domains. Here we demonstrate the existence of a cross-modal semantic distance effect between symbolic and tactile numerosities. Participants received tactile stimulations of different amounts of fingers while reading Arabic digits and indicated verbally whether the amount of stimulated fingers was different from the simultaneously presented digit or not. The larger the semantic distance was between the two numerosities, the faster and more accurate participants made their judgments. This cross-modal numerosity distance effect suggests a direct connection between tactile sensations and the concept of numerical magnitude. A second experiment replicated the interaction between symbolic and tactile numerosities and showed that this effect is not modulated by the participants' finger counting habits. Taken together, our data provide novel evidence for a shared metric for symbolic and tactile numerosities as an instance of an embodied representation of numbers.}, language = {en} } @article{EngelmannVasishthEngbertetal.2013, author = {Engelmann, Felix and Vasishth, Shravan and Engbert, Ralf and Kliegl, Reinhold}, title = {A framework for modeling the interaction of syntactic processing and eye movement control}, series = {Topics in cognitive science}, volume = {5}, journal = {Topics in cognitive science}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1756-8757}, doi = {10.1111/tops.12026}, pages = {452 -- 474}, year = {2013}, abstract = {We explore the interaction between oculomotor control and language comprehension on the sentence level using two well-tested computational accounts of parsing difficulty. Previous work (Boston, Hale, Vasishth, \& Kliegl, 2011) has shown that surprisal (Hale, 2001; Levy, 2008) and cue-based memory retrieval (Lewis \& Vasishth, 2005) are significant and complementary predictors of reading time in an eyetracking corpus. It remains an open question how the sentence processor interacts with oculomotor control. Using a simple linking hypothesis proposed in Reichle, Warren, and McConnell (2009), we integrated both measures with the eye movement model EMMA (Salvucci, 2001) inside the cognitive architecture ACT-R (Anderson et al., 2004). We built a reading model that could initiate short Time Out regressions (Mitchell, Shen, Green, \& Hodgson, 2008) that compensate for slow postlexical processing. This simple interaction enabled the model to predict the re-reading of words based on parsing difficulty. The model was evaluated in different configurations on the prediction of frequency effects on the Potsdam Sentence Corpus. The extension of EMMA with postlexical processing improved its predictions and reproduced re-reading rates and durations with a reasonable fit to the data. This demonstration, based on simple and independently motivated assumptions, serves as a foundational step toward a precise investigation of the interaction between high-level language processing and eye movement control.}, language = {en} } @article{ZhouKlieglYan2013, author = {Zhou, Wei and Kliegl, Reinhold and Yan, Ming}, title = {A validation of parafoveal semantic information extraction in reading Chinese}, series = {Journal of research in reading : a journal of the United Kingdom Reading Association}, volume = {36}, journal = {Journal of research in reading : a journal of the United Kingdom Reading Association}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0141-0423}, doi = {10.1111/j.1467-9817.2013.01556.x}, pages = {S51 -- S63}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Parafoveal semantic processing has recently been well documented in reading Chinese sentences, presumably because of language-specific features. However, because of a large variation of fixation landing positions on pretarget words, some preview words actually were located in foveal vision when readers' eyes landed close to the end of the pretarget words. None of the previous studies has completely ruled out a possibility that the semantic preview effects might mainly arise from these foveally processed preview words. This case, whether previously observed positive evidence for parafoveal semantic processing can still hold, has been called into question. Using linear mixed models, we demonstrate in this study that semantic preview benefit from word N+1 decreased if fixation on pretarget word N was close to the preview. We argue that parafoveal semantic processing is not a consequence of foveally processed preview words.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FreudenbergMauersbergerSpringeretal.2013, author = {Freudenberg, Maxi and Mauersberger, Heidi and Springer, Anne and Fotopoulou, Aikaterini and Blaison, Christophe and Hess, Ursula}, title = {A woman's best friend how the presence of dogs reduces Experimentally induced pain}, series = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, volume = {50}, booktitle = {Psychophysiology : journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0048-5772}, pages = {S103 -- S103}, year = {2013}, language = {en} } @article{KroellerJahnkeWarschburger2013, author = {Kr{\"o}ller, Katja and Jahnke, D{\"o}rte and Warschburger, Petra}, title = {Are maternal weight, eating and feeding practices associated with emotional eating in childhood?}, series = {Appetite : multidisciplinary research on eating and drinking}, volume = {65}, journal = {Appetite : multidisciplinary research on eating and drinking}, number = {4}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {London}, issn = {0195-6663}, doi = {10.1016/j.appet.2012.11.032}, pages = {25 -- 30}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Background: Research concerning children's emotional eating behavior has shown its negative impact on weight-related problems. Taking the model of Birch and Davison (2001) into account, we focus on the role of maternal feeding behavior on the association between emotional eating of the mother and the child. Methods: 482 mothers and their children participated in this cross-sectional study. The mothers were asked about their feeding strategies, their children's and their own emotional eating and weight. We tested a structural equation model for different feeding strategies. Results: In addition to an expected direct association between the mother's and child's emotional eating, the maternal feeding strategies are related to the child's eating behavior. A higher maternal restriction of food or its monitoring was associated with a higher level of children's emotional eating, while allowing the child more control about their eating was linked to less pronounced emotional eating behavior. Conclusions: The results highlight the relevance of maternal feeding behavior on emotional eating in childhood. In terms of preventing weight-related problems, the findings indicate the necessity of training parents in allowing their children more control and avoiding the restriction of food.}, language = {en} } @article{BlomeyerBuchmannLascorzetal.2013, author = {Blomeyer, Dorothea and Buchmann, Arlette F. and Lascorz, Jesus and Zimmermann, Ulrich S. and Esser, G{\"u}nter and Desrivieres, Sylvane and Schmidt, Martin H. and Banaschewski, Tobias and Schumann, Gunter and Laucht, Manfred}, title = {Association of PER2 genotype and stressful life events with alcohol drinking in young adults}, series = {PLoS one}, volume = {8}, journal = {PLoS one}, number = {3}, publisher = {PLoS}, address = {San Fransisco}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0059136}, pages = {7}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Background: Clock genes govern circadian rhythms and shape the effect of alcohol use on the physiological system. Exposure to severe negative life events is related to both heavy drinking and disturbed circadian rhythmicity. The aim of this study was 1) to extend previous findings suggesting an association of a haplotype tagging single nucleotide polymorphism of PER2 gene with drinking patterns, and 2) to examine a possible role for an interaction of this gene with life stress in hazardous drinking. Methods: Data were collected as part of an epidemiological cohort study on the outcome of early risk factors followed since birth. At age 19 years, 268 young adults (126 males, 142 females) were genotyped for PER2 rs56013859 and were administered a 45-day alcohol timeline follow-back interview and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Life stress was assessed as the number of severe negative life events during the past four years reported in a questionnaire and validated by interview. Results: Individuals with the minor G allele of rs56013859 were found to be less engaged in alcohol use, drinking at only 72\% of the days compared to homozygotes for the major A allele. Moreover, among regular drinkers, a gene x environment interaction emerged (p = .020). While no effects of genotype appeared under conditions of low stress, carriers of the G allele exhibited less hazardous drinking than those homozygous for the A allele when exposed to high stress. Conclusions: These findings may suggest a role of the circadian rhythm gene PER2 in both the drinking patterns of young adults and in moderating the impact of severe life stress on hazardous drinking in experienced alcohol users. However, in light of the likely burden of multiple tests, the nature of the measures used and the nominal evidence of interaction, replication is needed before drawing firm conclusions.}, language = {en} } @article{BuchmannHellwegRietscheletal.2013, author = {Buchmann, Arlette F. and Hellweg, Rainer and Rietschel, Marcella and Treutlein, Jens and Witt, Stephanie H. and Zimmermann, Ulrich S. and Schmidt, Martin H. and Esser, G{\"u}nter and Banaschewski, Tobias and Laucht, Manfred and Deuschle, Michael}, title = {BDNF Val 66 Met and 5-HTTLPR genotype moderate the impact of early psychosocial adversity on plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor and depressive symptoms - a prospective study}, series = {European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology}, volume = {23}, journal = {European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology}, number = {8}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0924-977X}, doi = {10.1016/j.euroneuro.2012.09.003}, pages = {902 -- 909}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Recent studies have emphasized an important role for neurotrophins, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), in regulating the plasticity of neural circuits involved in the pathophysiology of stress-related diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine the interplay of the BDNF Val(66)Met and the serotonin transporter promoter (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms in moderating the impact of early-life adversity on BDNF plasma concentration and depressive symptoms. Participants were taken from an epidemiological cohort study following the long-term outcome of early risk factors from birth into young adulthood. In 259 individuals (119 males, 140 females), genotyped for the BDNF Val(66)Met and the 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms, plasma BDNF was assessed at the age of 19 years. In addition, participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Early adversity was determined according to a family adversity index assessed at 3 months of age. Results indicated that individuals homozygous for both the BDNF Val and the 5-HTTLPR L allele showed significantly reduced BDNF levels following exposure to high adversity. In contrast, BDNF levels appeared to be unaffected by early psychosocial adversity in carriers of the BDNF Met or the 5-HTTLPR S allele. While the former group appeared to be most susceptible to depressive symptoms, the impact of early adversity was less pronounced in the latter group. This is the first preliminary evidence indicating that early-life adverse experiences may have lasting sequelae for plasma BDNF levels in humans, highlighting that the susceptibility to this effect is moderated by BDNF Val(66)Met and 5-HTTLPR genotype.}, language = {en} } @article{FestmanAdamPrattetal.2013, author = {Festman, Yariv and Adam, Jos J. and Pratt, Jay and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Both hand position and movement direction modulate visual attention}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {4}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00657}, pages = {6}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The current study explored effects of continuous hand motion on the allocation of visual attention. A concurrent paradigm was used to combine visually concealed continuous hand movements with an attentionally demanding letter discrimination task. The letter probe appeared contingent upon the moving right hand passing through one of six positions. Discrimination responses were then collected via a keyboard press with the static left hand. Both the right hand's position and its movement direction systematically contributed to participants' visual sensitivity. Discrimination performance increased substantially when the right hand was distant from, but moving toward the visual probe location (replicating the far-hand effect, Festrnan et al., 2013). However, this effect disappeared when the probe appeared close to the static left hand, supporting the view that static and dynamic features of both hands combine in modulating pragmatic maps of attention.}, language = {en} } @article{BuschingKrahe2013, author = {Busching, Robert and Krah{\´e}, Barbara}, title = {Charging neutral cues with aggressive meaning through violent video game play}, series = {Societies}, volume = {3}, journal = {Societies}, number = {4}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2075-4698}, doi = {10.3390/soc3040445}, pages = {445 -- 456}, year = {2013}, abstract = {When playing violent video games, aggressive actions are performed against the background of an originally neutral environment, and associations are formed between cues related to violence and contextual features. This experiment examined the hypothesis that neutral contextual features of a virtual environment become associated with aggressive meaning and acquire the function of primes for aggressive cognitions. Seventy-six participants were assigned to one of two violent video game conditions that varied in context (ship vs. city environment) or a control condition. Afterwards, they completed a Lexical Decision Task to measure the accessibility of aggressive cognitions in which they were primed either with ship-related or city-related words. As predicted, participants who had played the violent game in the ship environment had shorter reaction times for aggressive words following the ship primes than the city primes, whereas participants in the city condition responded faster to the aggressive words following the city primes compared to the ship primes. No parallel effect was observed for the non-aggressive targets. The findings indicate that the associations between violent and neutral cognitions learned during violent game play facilitate the accessibility of aggressive cognitions.}, language = {en} } @article{FestmanAdamPrattetal.2013, author = {Festman, Yariv and Adam, Jos J. and Pratt, Jay and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Continuous hand movement induces a far-hand bias in attentional priority}, series = {Attention, perception, \& psychophysics : AP\&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.}, volume = {75}, journal = {Attention, perception, \& psychophysics : AP\&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.}, number = {4}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {1943-3921}, doi = {10.3758/s13414-013-0430-4}, pages = {644 -- 649}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Previous research on the interaction between manual action and visual perception has focused on discrete movements or static postures and discovered better performance near the hands (the near-hand effect). However, in everyday behaviors, the hands are usually moving continuously between possible targets. Therefore, the current study explored the effects of continuous hand motion on the allocation of visual attention. Eleven healthy adults performed a visual discrimination task during cyclical concealed hand movements underneath a display. Both the current hand position and its movement direction systematically contributed to participants' visual sensitivity. Discrimination performance increased substantially when the hand was distant from but moving toward the visual probe location (a far-hand effect). Implications of this novel observation are discussed.}, language = {en} }