TY - JOUR A1 - Wick, Kristin A1 - Kriemler, Susi A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Associations between measures of physical fitness and cognitive performance in preschool children JF - BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation N2 - Background: Given that recent studies report negative secular declines in physical fitness, associations between fitness and cognition in childhood are strongly discussed. The preschool age is characterized by high neuroplasticity which effects motor skill learning, physical fitness, and cognitive development. The aim of this study was to assess the relation of physical fitness and attention (including its individual dimensions (quantitative, qualitative)) as one domain of cognitive performance in preschool children. We hypothesized that fitness components which need precise coordination compared to simple fitness components are stronger related to attention. Methods: Physical fitness components like static balance (i.e., single-leg stance), muscle strength (i.e., handgrip strength), muscle power (i.e., standing long jump), and coordination (i.e., hopping on one leg) were assessed in 61 healthy children (mean age 4.5 +/- 0.6 years; girls n = 30). Attention was measured with the "Konzentrations-Handlungsverfahren fur Vorschulkinder" [concentration-action procedure for preschoolers]). Analyses were adjusted for age, body height, and body mass. Results: Results from single linear regression analysis revealed a significant (p < 0.05) association between physical fitness (composite score) and attention (composite score) (standardized ss = 0.40), showing a small to medium effect (F-2 = 0.14). Further, coordination had a significant relation with the composite score and the quantitative dimension of attention (standardized ss = 0.35; p < 0.01; standardized ss = - 0.33; p < 0.05). Coordination explained about 11% (composite score) and 9% (quantitative dimension) of the variance in the stepwise multiple regression model. Conclusion: The results indicate that performance in physical fitness, particularly coordination, is related to attention in preschool children. Thus, high performance in complex fitness components (i.e., hopping on one leg) tends to predict attention in preschool children. Further longitudinal studies should focus on the effectiveness of physical activity programs implementing coordination and complex exercises at preschool age to examine cause-effect relationships between physical fitness and attention precisely. KW - Motor skills KW - Cognitive skills KW - Attention KW - Kindergarten Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-022-00470-w SN - 2052-1847 VL - 14 IS - 1 PB - BMC CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tseng, Chiao-I A1 - Laubrock, Jochen A1 - Bateman, John A. T1 - The impact of multimodal cohesion on attention and interpretation in film JF - Discourse, context & media N2 - This article presents results of an exploratory investigation combining multimodal cohesion analysis and eye-tracking studies. Multimodal cohesion, as a tool of multimodal discourse analysis, goes beyond lin-guistic cohesive mechanisms to enable the construction of cross-modal discourse structures that system-atically relate technical details of audio, visual and verbal modalities. Patterns of multimodal cohesion from these discourse structures were used to design eye-tracking experiments and questionnaires in order to empirically investigate how auditory and visual cohesive cues affect attention and comprehen-sion. We argue that the cross-modal structures of cohesion revealed by our method offer a strong methodology for addressing empirical questions concerning viewers' comprehension of narrative settings and the comparative salience of visual, verbal and audio cues. Analyses are presented of the beginning of Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) and a sketch from Monty Python filmed in 1971. Our approach balances the narrative-based issue of how narrative elements in film guide meaning interpretation and the recipient -based question of where a film viewer's attention is directed during viewing and how this affects comprehension. KW - Film KW - Cohesion KW - Discourse semantics KW - Multimodality KW - Eye-tracking KW - Attention Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100544 SN - 2211-6958 VL - 44 PB - Amsterdam [u.a.] CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - D'Ascenzo, Stefania A1 - Lugli, Luisa A1 - Nicoletti, Roberto A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Assessing orienting of attention to understand the time course of mental calculation JF - Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science N2 - Number processing induces spatial attention shifts to the left or right side for small or large numbers, respectively. This spatial-numerical association (SNA) extends to mental calculation, such that subtractions and additions induce left or right biases, respectively. However, the time course of activating SNAs during mental calculation is unclear. Here, we addressed this issue by measuring visual position discrimination during auditory calculation. Thirty-four healthy adults listened in each trial to five successive elements of arithmetic facts (first operand, operator, second operand, equal and result) and verbally classified their correctness. After each element (except for the result), a fixation dot moved equally often to either the left or right side and participants pressed left or right buttons to discriminate its movement direction (four times per trial). First and second operand magnitude (small/large), operation (addition/subtraction), result correctness (right/wrong) and movement direction (left/right) were balanced across 128 trials. Manual reaction times of dot movement discriminations were considered in relation to previous arithmetic elements. We found no evidence of early attentional shifts after first operand and operator presentation. Discrimination performance was modulated consistent with SNAs after the second operand, suggesting that attentional shifts occur once there is access to all elements necessary to complete an arithmetic operation. Such late-occurring attention shifts may reflect a combination of multiple element-specific biases and confirm their functional role in mental calculation. KW - Attention KW - Mental arithmetic KW - Numerical cognition KW - Spatial-numerical KW - associations Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-020-00970-y SN - 1612-4782 SN - 1612-4790 VL - 21 IS - 4 SP - 493 EP - 500 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ; Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Michałowski, Jarosław M. A1 - Wiwatowska, Ewa A1 - Weymar, Mathias T1 - Brain potentials reveal reduced attention and error-processing during a monetary Go/No-Go task in procrastination JF - Scientific reports N2 - Procrastination is a self-regulatory problem of voluntarily and destructively delaying intended and necessary or personally important tasks. Previous studies showed that procrastination is associated with executive dysfunctions that seem to be particularly strong in punishing contexts. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study a monetary version of the parametric Go/No-Go task was performed by high and low academic procrastinators to verify the influence of motivational context (reward vs. punishment expectation) and task difficulty (easy vs. hard) on procrastination-related executive dysfunctions. The results revealed increased post-error slowing along with reduced P300 and error-related negativity (ERN) amplitudes in high (vs. low) procrastination participants-effects that indicate impaired attention and error-related processing in this group. This pattern of results did not differ as a function of task difficulty and motivation condition. However, when the task got more difficult executive attention deficits became even more apparent at the behavioral level in high procrastinators, as indexed by increased reaction time variability. The findings substantiate prior preliminary evidence that procrastinators show difficulties in certain aspects of executive functioning (in attention and error processing) during execution of task-relevant behavior, which may be more apparent in highly demanding situations. KW - Attention KW - Cognitive control KW - Motivation KW - Neurophysiology KW - Neuroscience KW - Psychology KW - Reward Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75311-2 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 10 IS - 1 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Zoerner, Dietmar T1 - Förderung von Aufmerksamkeit und Motivationserhalt durch digitale spielbasierte Lernsysteme mit spezifischer Eignung bei Autismus T1 - Promotion of attention and preservation of motivation through digital game-based learning systems with particular suitability for autism N2 - Institutionelle Bildung ist für autistische Lernende mit vielgestaltigen und spezifischen Hindernissen verbunden. Dies gilt insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit Inklusion, deren Relevanz nicht zuletzt durch das Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderung gegeben ist. Diese Arbeit diskutiert zahlreiche lernrelevante Besonderheiten im Kontext von Autismus und zeigt Diskrepanzen zu den nicht immer ausreichend angemessenen institutionellen Lehrkonzepten. Eine zentrale These ist hierbei, dass die ungewöhnlich intensive Aufmerksamkeit von Autist*innen für ihre Spezialinteressen dafür genutzt werden kann, das Lernen mit fremdgestellten Inhalten zu erleichtern. Darauf aufbauend werden Lösungsansätze diskutiert, welche in einem neuartigen Konzept für ein digitales mehrgerätebasiertes Lernspiel resultieren. Eine wesentliche Herausforderung bei der Konzeption spielbasierten Lernens besteht in der adäquaten Einbindung von Lerninhalten in einen fesselnden narrativen Kontext. Am Beispiel von Übungen zur emotionalen Deutung von Mimik, welche für das Lernen von sozioemotionalen Kompetenzen besonders im Rahmen von Therapiekonzepten bei Autismus Verwendung finden, wird eine angemessene Narration vorgestellt, welche die störungsarme Einbindung dieser sehr speziellen Lerninhalte ermöglicht. Die Effekte der einzelnen Konzeptionselemente werden anhand eines prototypisch entwickelten Lernspiels untersucht. Darauf aufbauend zeigt eine quantitative Studie die gute Akzeptanz und Nutzerfreundlichkeit des Spiels und belegte vor allem die Verständlichkeit der Narration und der Spielelemente. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt in der minimalinvasiven Untersuchung möglicher Störungen des Spielerlebnisses durch den Wechsel zwischen verschiedenen Endgeräten, für die ein innovatives Messverfahren entwickelt wurde. Im Ergebnis beleuchtet diese Arbeit die Bedeutung und die Grenzen von spielbasierten Ansätzen für autistische Lernende. Ein großer Teil der vorgestellten Konzepte lässt sich auf andersartige Lernszenarien übertragen. Das dafür entwickelte technische Framework zur Realisierung narrativer Lernpfade ist ebenfalls darauf vorbereitet, für weitere Lernszenarien, gerade auch im institutionellen Kontext, Verwendung zu finden. N2 - Institutional education is associated with multifaceted and specific obstacles for autistic learners. This is especially true in the context of inclusion, the relevance of which is given not least by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This thesis discusses numerous learning-relevant peculiarities in the context of autism and shows discrepancies with institutional teaching concepts that are not always sufficiently appropriate. A central thesis is that the unusually intense attention of autistic students to their special interests can be used to facilitate learning with foreign content. Based on this, solutions are discussed, which result in an innovative concept for a digital multi-devicebased learning game. A key challenge in designing game-based learning is to adequately integrate learning content into a compelling narrative context. Using the example of exercises for the emotional interpretation of facial expressions, which are used for learning socioemotional competencies especially in the context of therapy concepts for autism, an appropriate narration is presented, which enables the low-disturbance integration of this very specific learning content. The effects of the individual conceptual elements are examined based on a prototypically developed learning game. Based on this, a quantitative study shows the good acceptance and user-friendliness of the game and especially proves the comprehensibility of the narration and the game elements. Another focus is the minimally invasive investigation of possible disturbances of the game experience by switching between different end devices, for which an innovative measurement method was developed. As a result, this work sheds light on the importance and limitations of game-based approaches for autistic learners. A large part of the presented concepts can be transferred to other types of learning scenarios. The technical framework developed for the realization of narrative learning paths is also prepared to be used for other learning scenarios, especially in an institutional context. KW - Autismus KW - Spielbasiertes Lernen KW - Aufmerksamkeit KW - Attention KW - Autism KW - game based learning Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-523725 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 - Festman, Yariv A1 - Braun, Jochen T1 - Feature-based attention spreads preferentially in an object-specific manner JF - Vision research : an international journal for functional aspects of vision. N2 - We studied the spreading of feature-based attention from attended to ignored motion fields (linear, circular, and combinations). When observers attended one of two superimposed motion fields on one side of the visual midline, sub-threshold priming by an ignored motion field was altered significantly on the opposite side of the midline. This attentional spreading was observed only when attended and ignored motion fields conformed to a complex global flow, not when they shared the same linear motion. These findings corroborate an earlier study (Festman & Braun, 2010), which obtained similar results with a complementary methodology. We conclude that feature-based attention is more complex than hitherto appreciated in that it spreads preferentially in an object-specific manner. KW - Attention KW - Psychophysics KW - Motion Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2011.12.003 SN - 0042-6989 VL - 54 IS - 1 SP - 31 EP - 38 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lange, Elke B. A1 - Starzynski, Christian A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Capture of the gaze does not capture the mind JF - Attention, perception, & psychophysics : AP&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc. N2 - Sudden visual changes attract our gaze, and related eye movement control requires attentional resources. Attention is a limited resource that is also involved in working memory-for instance, memory encoding. As a consequence, theory suggests that gaze capture could impair the buildup of memory respresentations due to an attentional resource bottleneck. Here we developed an experimental design combining a serial memory task (verbal or spatial) and concurrent gaze capture by a distractor (of high or low similarity to the relevant item). The results cannot be explained by a general resource bottleneck. Specifically, we observed that capture by the low-similar distractor resulted in delayed and reduced saccade rates to relevant items in both memory tasks. However, while spatial memory performance decreased, verbal memory remained unaffected. In contrast, the high-similar distractor led to capture and memory loss for both tasks. Our results lend support to the view that gaze capture leads to activation of irrelevant representations in working memory that compete for selection at recall. Activation of irrelevant spatial representations distracts spatial recall, whereas activation of irrelevant verbal features impairs verbal memory performance. KW - Attention KW - Memory KW - Cognitive eye movements KW - Visual working memory KW - Short-term memory Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-012-0318-8 SN - 1943-3921 VL - 74 IS - 6 SP - 1168 EP - 1182 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ghahghaei, Saeideh A1 - Linnell, Karina J. A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Dubey, Amit A1 - Davis, Robert T1 - Effects of load on the time course of attentional engagement, disengagement, and orienting in reading JF - The quarterly journal of experimental psychology N2 - We examined how the frequency of the fixated word influences the spatiotemporal distribution of covert attention during reading. Participants discriminated gaze-contingent probes that occurred with different spatial and temporal offsets from randomly chosen fixation points during reading. We found that attention was initially focused at fixation and that subsequent defocusing was slower when the fixated word was lower in frequency. Later in a fixation, attention oriented more towards the next saccadic target for high- than for low-frequency words. These results constitute the first report of the time course of the effect of load on attentional engagement and orienting in reading. They are discussed in the context of serial and parallel models of reading. KW - Attention KW - Load KW - Reading KW - Time course KW - Word frequency KW - Engagement KW - Disengagement KW - Orienting Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2011.635795 SN - 1747-0218 VL - 66 IS - 3 SP - 453 EP - 470 PB - Wiley CY - Hove ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kaduk, Katharina A1 - Elsner, Birgit A1 - Reid, Vincent M. T1 - Discrimination of animate and inanimate motion in 9-month-old infants - An ERP study JF - Developmental cognitive neuroscience : a journal for cognitive, affective and social developmental neuroscience N2 - Simple geometric shapes moving in a self-propelled manner, and violating Newtonian laws of motion by acting against gravitational forces tend to induce a judgement that an object is animate. Objects that change their motion only due to external causes are more likely judged as inanimate. How the developing brain is employed in the perception of animacy in early ontogeny is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to use ERP techniques to determine if the negative central component (Nc), a waveform related to attention allocation, was differentially affected when an infant observed animate or inanimate motion. Short animated movies comprising a marble moving along a marble run either in an animate or an inanimate manner were presented to 15 infants who were 9 months of age. The ERPs were time-locked to a still frame representing animate or inanimate motion that was displayed following each movie. We found that 9-month-olds are able to discriminate between animate and inanimate motion based on motion cues alone and most likely allocate more attentional resources to the inanimate motion. The present data contribute to our understanding of the animate-inanimate distinction and the Nc as a correlate of infant cognitive processing. KW - Infant KW - EEG/ERP KW - Nc KW - Attention KW - Animacy Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2013.05.003 SN - 1878-9293 SN - 1878-9307 VL - 6 IS - 5 SP - 14 EP - 22 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - THES A1 - Rolfs, Martin T1 - In-between fixation and movement : on the generation of microsaccades and what they convey about saccade generation T1 - Zwischen Fixation und Bewegung : zur Generierung von Mikrosakkaden und was sie über die Vorbereitung von Sakkaden mitteilen N2 - Microsaccades are an important component of the small eye movements that constitute fixation, the basis of visual perception. The specific function of microsaccades has been a long-standing research problem. Only recently, conclusive evidence emerged, showing that microsaccades aid both visual perception and oculomotor control. The main goal of this thesis was to improve our understanding of the implementation of microsaccade generation within the circuitry of saccade control, an unsolved issue in oculomotor research. We make a case for a model according to which microsaccades and saccades result from mutually dependent motor plans, competing for expression. The model consists of an activation field, coding for fixation at its center and for saccades at peripheral locations; saccade amplitude increases with eccentricity. Activity during fixation spreads to slightly peripheral locations in the field and, thus, may result in the generation of microsaccades. Inhibition of remote and excitation of neighbouring locations govern the dynamics of the field, resulting in a strong competition between fixation and saccade generation. We propose that this common-field model of microsaccade and saccade generation finds a neurophysiological counterpart in the motor map of the superior colliculus (SC), a key brainstem structure involved in the generation of saccades. In a series of five behavioral experiments, we tested implications of the model. Predictions were derived concerning (1) the behavior of microsaccades in a given task (microsaccade rate, amplitude, and direction), (2) the interactions of microsaccades and subsequent saccades, and (3) the relationship between microsaccadic behavior and neurophysiological processes at the level of the SC. The results yielded strong support for the model at all three levels of analysis, suggesting that microsaccade statistics are indicative of the state of the fixation-related part of the SC motor map. N2 - Mikrosakkaden sind ein wichtiger Bestandteil der kleinen Augenbewegungen, aus denen Fixationen, die Basis der visuellen Wahrnehmung, bestehen. Neuere Arbeiten erbrachten schlüssige Evidenz dafür, das Mikrosakkaden eine wichtige Rolle in der Wahrnehmung und der Blickbewegungskontrolle spielen. Hauptanliegen dieser Dissertation war es, unser Verständnis der Implementierung der Generierung von Mikrosakkaden im Kreislauf der Sakkadensteuerung zu vertiefen. Wir schlagen ein Modell vor, in dem Mikrosakkaden und Sakkaden konkurrierende Bewegungsprogramme darstellen, die um ihre Umsetzung wettstreiten. Das Modell besteht aus einem Aktivationsfeld, in dem Fixation im Zentrum und Sakkaden in der Peripherie repräsentiert sind (Sakkadenamplitude steigt mit der Exzentrizität). Aktivität während der Fixation breitet sich zu leicht peripheren Orten im Feld aus und kann so zur Generierung von Mikrosakkaden führen. Hemmung von entfernten und Erregung von benachbarten Orten bestimmen die Dynamik im Feld, was zu einem starken Wettstreit zwischen Fixation und Sakkadengenerierung beiträgt. Wir schlagen vor, dass dieses common-field model of microsaccade and saccade generation ein neurophysiologisches Pendant in der Bewegungskarte des colliculus superior (CS) findet, einer Struktur im Hirnstamm, die im starken Zusammenhang mit der Entstehung von Sakkaden steht. In fünf behavioralen Experimenten wurden Implikationen des Modells überprüft. Vorhersagen wurden auf drei Ebenen abgeleitet: (1) Verhalten der Mikrosakkaden in bestimmten Aufgaben (Mikrosakkadenrate, -amplitude und -richtung), (2) Interaktionen von Mikrosakkaden und nachfolgenden Sakkaden, (3) der Zusammenhang zwischen Mikrosakkadenverhalten und neurophysiologischen Prozessen auf der Ebene des CS. Die Ergebnisse unterstützten das Modell auf allen drei Analyseebenen. Mikrosakkaden scheinen ein Indikator der Fixationsaktivität in der Bewegungskarte des CS zu sein. KW - Blickbewegung KW - Aufmerksamkeit KW - Wahrnehmung KW - Blickbewegungskontrolle KW - Sakkade KW - Eye movement KW - Attention KW - Perception KW - Oculomotor control KW - Saccade Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-14581 ER -