TY - GEN A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - A hierarchical view of abstractness BT - Grounded, embodied, and situated aspect: Comment on "Words as social tools: Language, sociality and inner grounding in abstract concepts" by Anna M. Borghi et al. T2 - Physics of life reviews Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2019.04.005 SN - 1571-0645 SN - 1873-1457 VL - 29 SP - 161 EP - 163 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Chapman, Ashley J. A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Cross-representational interactions BT - Interface and overlap mechanisms JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - A crucial question facing cognitive science concerns the nature of conceptual representations as well as the constraints on the interactions between them. One specific question we address in this paper is what makes cross-representational interplay possible? We offer two distinct theoretical scenarios: according to the first scenario, co-activated knowledge representations interact with the help of an interface established between them via congruent activation in a mediating third-party general cognitive mechanism, e.g., attention. According to the second scenario, co-activated knowledge representations interact due to an overlap between their features, for example when they share a magnitude component. First, we make a case for cross representational interplay based on grounded and situated theories of cognition. Second, we discuss interface-based interactions between distinct (i.e., non-overlapping) knowledge representations. Third, we discuss how co-activated representations may share their architecture via partial overlap. Finally, we outline constraints regarding the flexibility of these proposed mechanisms. KW - representation KW - cross-representational interaction KW - simulation KW - embodiment KW - grounded cognition Y1 - 2017 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Fischer, Martin A1 - Winter, Bodo A1 - Felisatti, Arianna A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - More Instructions Make Fewer Subtractions T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Research on problem solving offers insights into how humans process task-related information and which strategies they use (Newell and Simon, 1972; Öllinger et al., 2014). Problem solving can be defined as the search for possible changes in one's mind (Kahneman, 2003). In a recent study, Adams et al. (2021) assessed whether the predominant problem solving strategy when making changes involves adding or subtracting elements. In order to do this, they used several examples of simple problems, such as editing text or making visual patterns symmetrical, either in naturalistic settings or on-line. The essence of the authors' findings is a strong preference to add rather than subtract elements across a diverse range of problems, including the stabilizing of artifacts, creating symmetrical patterns, or editing texts. More specifically, they succeeded in demonstrating that “participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes when the task did not (vs. did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (vs. several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy or when they were under a higher (vs. lower) cognitive load” (Adams et al., 2021, p. 258). Addition and subtraction are generally defined as de-contextualized mathematical operations using abstract symbols (Russell, 1903/1938). Nevertheless, understanding of both symbols and operations is informed by everyday activities, such as making or breaking objects (Lakoff and Núñez, 2000; Fischer and Shaki, 2018). The universal attribution of “addition bias” or “subtraction neglect” to problem solving activities is perhaps a convenient shorthand but it overlooks influential framing effects beyond those already acknowledged in the report and the accompanying commentary (Meyvis and Yoon, 2021). Most importantly, while Adams et al.'s study addresses an important issue, their very method of verbally instructing participants, together with lack of control over several known biases, might render their findings less than conclusive. Below, we discuss our concerns that emerged from the identified biases, namely those regarding the instructions and the experimental materials. Moreover, we refer to research from mathematical cognition that provides new insights into Adams et al.'s findings. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 763 KW - problem solving KW - addition KW - subtraction KW - cognitive bias KW - SNARC Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-550086 SN - 1866-8364 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Martin A1 - Winter, Bodo A1 - Felisatti, Arianna A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - More Instructions Make Fewer Subtractions JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Research on problem solving offers insights into how humans process task-related information and which strategies they use (Newell and Simon, 1972; Öllinger et al., 2014). Problem solving can be defined as the search for possible changes in one's mind (Kahneman, 2003). In a recent study, Adams et al. (2021) assessed whether the predominant problem solving strategy when making changes involves adding or subtracting elements. In order to do this, they used several examples of simple problems, such as editing text or making visual patterns symmetrical, either in naturalistic settings or on-line. The essence of the authors' findings is a strong preference to add rather than subtract elements across a diverse range of problems, including the stabilizing of artifacts, creating symmetrical patterns, or editing texts. More specifically, they succeeded in demonstrating that “participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes when the task did not (vs. did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (vs. several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy or when they were under a higher (vs. lower) cognitive load” (Adams et al., 2021, p. 258). Addition and subtraction are generally defined as de-contextualized mathematical operations using abstract symbols (Russell, 1903/1938). Nevertheless, understanding of both symbols and operations is informed by everyday activities, such as making or breaking objects (Lakoff and Núñez, 2000; Fischer and Shaki, 2018). The universal attribution of “addition bias” or “subtraction neglect” to problem solving activities is perhaps a convenient shorthand but it overlooks influential framing effects beyond those already acknowledged in the report and the accompanying commentary (Meyvis and Yoon, 2021). Most importantly, while Adams et al.'s study addresses an important issue, their very method of verbally instructing participants, together with lack of control over several known biases, might render their findings less than conclusive. Below, we discuss our concerns that emerged from the identified biases, namely those regarding the instructions and the experimental materials. Moreover, we refer to research from mathematical cognition that provides new insights into Adams et al.'s findings. KW - problem solving KW - addition KW - subtraction KW - cognitive bias KW - SNARC Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720616 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Ocular drift along the mental number line JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - We examined the spontaneous association between numbers and space by documenting attention deployment and the time course of associated spatial-numerical mapping with and without overt oculomotor responses. In Experiment 1, participants maintained central fixation while listening to number names. In Experiment 2, they made horizontal target-direct saccades following auditory number presentation. In both experiments, we continuously measured spontaneous ocular drift in horizontal space during and after number presentation. Experiment 2 also measured visual-probe-directed saccades following number presentation. Reliable ocular drift congruent with a horizontal mental number line emerged during and after number presentation in both experiments. Our results provide new evidence for the implicit and automatic nature of the oculomotor resonance effect associated with the horizontal spatial-numerical mapping mechanism. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0731-4 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 80 SP - 379 EP - 388 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - GEN A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Ocular drift along the mental number line T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - We examined the spontaneous association between numbers and space by documenting attention deployment and the time course of associated spatial-numerical mapping with and without overt oculomotor responses. In Experiment 1, participants maintained central fixation while listening to number names. In Experiment 2, they made horizontal target-direct saccades following auditory number presentation. In both experiments, we continuously measured spontaneous ocular drift in horizontal space during and after number presentation. Experiment 2 also measured visual-probe-directed saccades following number presentation. Reliable ocular drift congruent with a horizontal mental number line emerged during and after number presentation in both experiments. Our results provide new evidence for the implicit and automatic nature of the oculomotor resonance effect associated with the horizontal spatial-numerical mapping mechanism. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 553 KW - catch trial KW - number word KW - numerical magnitude KW - saccade task KW - SNARC effect Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-430483 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 553 SP - 379 EP - 388 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Scheepers, Christoph A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Kessler, Klaus T1 - TEST: A tropic, embodied, and situated theory of cognition JF - Topics in cognitive science N2 - TEST is a novel taxonomy of knowledge representations based on three distinct hierarchically organized representational features: Tropism, Embodiment, and Situatedness. Tropic representational features reflect constraints of the physical world on the agent's ability to form, reactivate, and enrich embodied (i.e., resulting from the agent's bodily constraints) conceptual representations embedded in situated contexts. The proposed hierarchy entails that representations can, in principle, have tropic features without necessarily having situated and/or embodied features. On the other hand, representations that are situated and/or embodied are likely to be simultaneously tropic. Hence, although we propose tropism as the most general term, the hierarchical relationship between embodiment and situatedness is more on a par, such that the dominance of one component over the other relies on the distinction between offline storage versus online generation as well as on representation-specific properties. KW - Cognitive tropism KW - Embodiment KW - Groundedness KW - Situatedness KW - Language KW - Number processing KW - Perspective taking Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12024 SN - 1756-8757 SN - 1756-8765 VL - 6 IS - 3 SP - 442 EP - 460 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - The oculomotor resonance effect in spatial-numerical mapping JF - Acta psychologica : international journal of psychonomics N2 - We investigated automatic Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect in auditory number processing. Two experiments continually measured spatial characteristics of ocular drift at central fixation during and after auditory number presentation. Consistent with the notion of a spatially oriented mental number line, we found spontaneous magnitude-dependent gaze adjustments, both with and without a concurrent saccadic task. This fixation adjustment (1) had a small-number/left-lateralized bias and (2) it was biphasic as it emerged for a short time around the point of lexical access and it received later robust representation around following number onset. This pattern suggests a two-step mechanism of sensorimotor mapping between numbers and space a first-pass bottom-up activation followed by a top-down and more robust horizontal SNARC Our results inform theories of number processing as well as simulation-based approaches to cognition by identifying the characteristics of an oculomotor resonance phenomenon. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Attention KW - Embodied cognition KW - Eye movements KW - Oculomotor resonance KW - Ocular drift KW - SNARC Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.09.006 SN - 0001-6918 SN - 1873-6297 VL - 161 SP - 162 EP - 169 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Visual and linguistic cues to graspable objects JF - Experimental brain research N2 - Two experiments investigated (1) how activation of manual affordances is triggered by visual and linguistic cues to manipulable objects and (2) whether graspable object parts play a special role in this process. Participants pressed a key to categorize manipulable target objects copresented with manipulable distractor objects on a computer screen. Three factors were varied in Experiment 1: (1) the target's and (2) the distractor's handles' orientation congruency with the lateral manual response and (3) the Visual Focus on one of the objects. In Experiment 2, a linguistic cue factor was added to these three factors-participants heard the name of one of the two objects prior to the target display onset. Analysis of participants' motor and oculomotor behaviour confirmed that perceptual and linguistic cues potentiated activation of grasp affordances. Both target- and distractor-related affordance effects were modulated by the presence of visual and linguistic cues. However, a differential visual attention mechanism subserved activation of compatibility effects associated with target and distractor objects. We also registered an independent implicit attention attraction effect from objects' handles, suggesting that graspable parts automatically attract attention during object viewing. This effect was further amplified by visual but not linguistic cues, thus providing initial evidence for a recent hypothesis about differential roles of visual and linguistic information in potentiating stable and variable affordances (Borghi in Language and action in cognitive neuroscience. Psychology Press, London, 2012). KW - Grasp affordances KW - Naming KW - Visual attention KW - Object categorization Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-013-3616-z SN - 0014-4819 VL - 229 IS - 4 SP - 545 EP - 559 PB - Springer CY - New York ER -