@article{ApelRevieCangelosietal.2011, author = {Apel, Jens K. and Revie, Gavin F. and Cangelosi, Angelo and Ellis, Rob and Goslin, Jeremy and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Attention deployment during memorizing and executing complex instructions}, series = {Experimental brain research}, volume = {214}, journal = {Experimental brain research}, number = {2}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {0014-4819}, doi = {10.1007/s00221-011-2827-4}, pages = {249 -- 259}, year = {2011}, abstract = {We investigated the mental rehearsal of complex action instructions by recording spontaneous eye movements of healthy adults as they looked at objects on a monitor. Participants heard consecutive instructions, each of the form "move [object] to [location]''. Instructions were only to be executed after a go signal, by manipulating all objects successively with a mouse. Participants re-inspected previously mentioned objects already while listening to further instructions. This rehearsal behavior broke down after 4 instructions, coincident with participants' instruction span, as determined from subsequent execution accuracy. These results suggest that spontaneous eye movements while listening to instructions predict their successful execution.}, language = {en} } @article{FelisattiLaubrockShakietal.2020, author = {Felisatti, Arianna and Laubrock, Jochen and Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Commentary}, series = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1662-5161}, doi = {10.3389/fnhum.2020.00099}, pages = {4}, year = {2020}, language = {en} } @article{FischerMiklashevskyShaki2018, author = {Fischer, Martin H. and Miklashevsky, Alex A. and Shaki, Samuel}, title = {Commentary : The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02259}, pages = {3}, year = {2018}, language = {en} } @article{FischerWinterFelisattietal.2021, author = {Fischer, Martin H. and Winter, Bodo and Felisatti, Arianna and Myachykov, Andriy and Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A. and Shaki, Samuel}, title = {More instructions make fewer subtractions}, series = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, volume = {12}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne, Schweiz}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720616}, pages = {1 -- 3}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Research on problem solving offers insights into how humans process task-related information and which strategies they use (Newell and Simon, 1972; {\"O}llinger 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 N{\´u}{\~n}ez, 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.}, language = {en} } @article{GhahghaeiLinnellFischeretal.2013, author = {Ghahghaei, Saeideh and Linnell, Karina J. and Fischer, Martin H. and Dubey, Amit and Davis, Robert}, title = {Effects of load on the time course of attentional engagement, disengagement, and orienting in reading}, series = {The quarterly journal of experimental psychology}, volume = {66}, journal = {The quarterly journal of experimental psychology}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hove}, issn = {1747-0218}, doi = {10.1080/17470218.2011.635795}, pages = {453 -- 470}, year = {2013}, abstract = {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.}, language = {en} } @article{KnudsenFischerAschersleben2015, author = {Knudsen, Birgit and Fischer, Martin H. and Aschersleben, Gisa}, title = {Development of spatial preferences for counting and picture naming}, series = {Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action}, volume = {79}, journal = {Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action}, number = {6}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Heidelberg}, issn = {0340-0727}, doi = {10.1007/s00426-014-0623-z}, pages = {939 -- 949}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The direction of object enumeration reflects children's enculturation but previous work on the development of such spatial preferences has been inconsistent. Therefore, we documented directional preferences in finger counting, object counting, and picture naming for children (4 groups from 3 to 6 years, N = 104) and adults (N = 56). We found a right-side preference for finger counting in 3- to 6-year-olds and a left-side preference for counting objects and naming pictures by 6 years of age. Children were consistent in their special preferences when comparing object counting and picture naming, but not in other task pairings. Finally, spatial preferences were not related to cardinality comprehension. These results, together with other recent work, suggest a gradual development of spatial-numerical associations from early non-directional mappings into culturally constrained directional mappings.}, language = {en} } @article{KulkovaFischer2019, author = {Kulkova, Elena S. and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Idioms in the World}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01155}, pages = {4}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @article{KuehneFischerJeglinskiMende2022, author = {K{\"u}hne, Katharina and Fischer, Martin H. and Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A.}, title = {During the COVID-19 pandemic participants prefer settings with a face mask, no interaction and at a closer distance}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {12}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-022-16730-1}, pages = {1 -- 12}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Peripersonal space is the space surrounding our body, where multisensory integration of stimuli and action execution take place. The size of peripersonal space is flexible and subject to change by various personal and situational factors. The dynamic representation of our peripersonal space modulates our spatial behaviors towards other individuals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this spatial behavior was modified by two further factors: social distancing and wearing a face mask. Evidence from offline and online studies on the impact of a face mask on pro-social behavior is mixed. In an attempt to clarify the role of face masks as pro-social or anti-social signals, 235 observers participated in the present online study. They watched pictures of two models standing at three different distances from each other (50, 90 and 150 cm), who were either wearing a face mask or not and were either interacting by initiating a hand shake or just standing still. The observers' task was to classify the model by gender. Our results show that observers react fastest, and therefore show least avoidance, for the shortest distances (50 and 90 cm) but only when models wear a face mask and do not interact. Thus, our results document both pro- and anti-social consequences of face masks as a result of the complex interplay between social distancing and interactive behavior. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{KuehneFischerZhou2020, author = {K{\"u}hne, Katharina and Fischer, Martin H. and Zhou, Yuefang}, title = {The Human Takes It All}, series = {Frontiers in Neurorobotics}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in Neurorobotics}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1662-5218}, doi = {10.3389/fnbot.2020.593732}, pages = {15}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Background: The increasing involvement of social robots in human lives raises the question as to how humans perceive social robots. Little is known about human perception of synthesized voices. Aim: To investigate which synthesized voice parameters predict the speaker's eeriness and voice likability; to determine if individual listener characteristics (e.g., personality, attitude toward robots, age) influence synthesized voice evaluations; and to explore which paralinguistic features subjectively distinguish humans from robots/artificial agents. Methods: 95 adults (62 females) listened to randomly presented audio-clips of three categories: synthesized (Watson, IBM), humanoid (robot Sophia, Hanson Robotics), and human voices (five clips/category). Voices were rated on intelligibility, prosody, trustworthiness, confidence, enthusiasm, pleasantness, human-likeness, likability, and naturalness. Speakers were rated on appeal, credibility, human-likeness, and eeriness. Participants' personality traits, attitudes to robots, and demographics were obtained. Results: The human voice and human speaker characteristics received reliably higher scores on all dimensions except for eeriness. Synthesized voice ratings were positively related to participants' agreeableness and neuroticism. Females rated synthesized voices more positively on most dimensions. Surprisingly, interest in social robots and attitudes toward robots played almost no role in voice evaluation. Contrary to the expectations of an uncanny valley, when the ratings of human-likeness for both the voice and the speaker characteristics were higher, they seemed less eerie to the participants. Moreover, when the speaker's voice was more humanlike, it was more liked by the participants. This latter point was only applicable to one of the synthesized voices. Finally, pleasantness and trustworthiness of the synthesized voice predicted the likability of the speaker's voice. Qualitative content analysis identified intonation, sound, emotion, and imageability/embodiment as diagnostic features. Discussion: Humans clearly prefer human voices, but manipulating diagnostic speech features might increase acceptance of synthesized voices and thereby support human-robot interaction. There is limited evidence that human-likeness of a voice is negatively linked to the perceived eeriness of the speaker.}, language = {en} } @article{KuehneHerboldBendeletal.2024, author = {K{\"u}hne, Katharina and Herbold, Erika and Bendel, Oliver and Zhou, Yuefang and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {"Ick bin een Berlina"}, series = {Frontiers in robotics and AI}, volume = {10}, journal = {Frontiers in robotics and AI}, publisher = {Frontiers Media S.A.}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2296-9144}, doi = {10.3389/frobt.2023.1241519}, pages = {15}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Background: Robots are increasingly used as interaction partners with humans. Social robots are designed to follow expected behavioral norms when engaging with humans and are available with different voices and even accents. Some studies suggest that people prefer robots to speak in the user's dialect, while others indicate a preference for different dialects. Methods: Our study examined the impact of the Berlin dialect on perceived trustworthiness and competence of a robot. One hundred and twenty German native speakers (Mage = 32 years, SD = 12 years) watched an online video featuring a NAO robot speaking either in the Berlin dialect or standard German and assessed its trustworthiness and competence. Results: We found a positive relationship between participants' self-reported Berlin dialect proficiency and trustworthiness in the dialect-speaking robot. Only when controlled for demographic factors, there was a positive association between participants' dialect proficiency, dialect performance and their assessment of robot's competence for the standard German-speaking robot. Participants' age, gender, length of residency in Berlin, and device used to respond also influenced assessments. Finally, the robot's competence positively predicted its trustworthiness. Discussion: Our results inform the design of social robots and emphasize the importance of device control in online experiments.}, language = {en} }