TY - JOUR A1 - Reike, Dennis A1 - Schwarz, Wolfgang T1 - Exploring the origin of the number-size congruency effect BT - sensitivity or response bias? JF - Attention, perception, & psychophysics : AP&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc. N2 - Physical size modulates the efficiency of digit comparison, depending on whether the relation of numerical magnitude and physical size is congruent or incongruent (Besner & Coltheart, Neuropsychologia, 17, 467–472, 1979), the number-size congruency effect (NSCE). In addition, Henik and Tzelgov (Memory & Cognition, 10, 389–395, 1982) first reported an NSCE for the reverse task of comparing the physical size of digits such that the numerical magnitude of digits modulated the time required to compare their physical sizes. Does the NSCE in physical comparisons simply reflect a number-mediated bias mechanism related to making decisions and selecting responses about the digit’s sizes? Alternatively, or in addition, the NSCE might indicate a true increase in the ability to discriminate small and large font sizes when these sizes are congruent with the digit’s symbolic numerical meaning, over and above response bias effects. We present a new research design that permits us to apply signal detection theory to a task that required observers to judge the physical size of digits. Our results clearly demonstrate that the NSCE cannot be reduced to mere response bias effects, and that genuine sensitivity gains for congruent number-size pairings contribute to the NSCE. KW - Numerical cognition KW - Number-size congruity effect KW - Signal detection theory Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-016-1267-4 SN - 1943-3921 SN - 1943-393X VL - 79 SP - 383 EP - 388 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schad, Daniel A1 - Nuthmann, Antje A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Your mind wanders weakly, your mind wanders deeply - objective measures reveal mindless reading at different levels JF - Cognition : international journal of cognitive science N2 - When the mind wanders, attention turns away from the external environment and cognitive processing is decoupled from perceptual information. Mind wandering is usually treated as a dichotomy (dichotomy-hypothesis), and is often measured using self-reports. Here, we propose the levels of inattention hypothesis, which postulates attentional decoupling to graded degrees at different hierarchical levels of cognitive processing. To measure graded levels of attentional decoupling during reading we introduce the sustained attention to stimulus task (SAST), which is based on psychophysics of error detection. Under experimental conditions likely to induce mind wandering, we found that subjects were less likely to notice errors that required high-level processing for their detection as opposed to errors that only required low-level processing. Eye tracking revealed that before errors were overlooked influences of high- and low-level linguistic variables on eye fixations were reduced in a graded fashion, indicating episodes of mindless reading at weak and deep levels. Individual fixation durations predicted overlooking of lexical errors 5 s before they occurred. Our findings support the levels of inattention hypothesis and suggest that different levels of mindless reading can be measured behaviorally in the SAST. Using eye tracking to detect mind wandering online represents a promising approach for the development of new techniques to study mind wandering and to ameliorate its negative consequences. KW - Mind wandering KW - Reading KW - Eye movements KW - Signal detection theory KW - Levels of processing KW - Sustained attention Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.07.004 SN - 0010-0277 VL - 125 IS - 2 SP - 179 EP - 194 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -