Programme Book 2015 PDF
Programme Book 2015 PDF
Programme Book 2015 PDF
Invited Speakers:
Klaus Fiedler, Asher Koriat, Joelle Proust,
Nicholas Shea, Valerie Thompson, Maggie Toplak
Chairs:
Balzs Aczl, Olivier Mascaro
Organizers:
Csaba Plh, Nevena Padovan, Dora Kampis
Barnabs Szszi, Aba Szllsi, Bence Plfi
Programme
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Registration
Invited talk: Valerie Thompson
Intuition, Analytic Thinking, and the Feeling of Rightness: A
Metacognitive Reasoning Theory
Coffee break
Poster session 1
Invited talk: Klaus Fiedler
Metacognitive myopia - a major impediment of rational
behavior
Lunch
Poster session 2
Coffee break
Invited talk: Nicholas Shea
Metacognition of Concepts
Social programme
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Valerie Thompson,
University of Saskatchewan
Amongst educators and psychologists, questions of metacognition have garnered
much attention, especially as they pertain to the domains of learning and memory. In
this context, it is therefore somewhat surprising that relatively little is known about the
cognitive processes involved in the monitoring and control of reasoning and problemsolving. That is, we know little about how reasoners assess their confidence in their
conclusions, how this confidence influences subsequent behaviour, nor how
reasoning performance is assessed on an ongoing basis. In this talk, I will outline a
theory of metareasoning that draws on insights from the learning and memory
literature, extending them to a variety of common reasoning tasks. Data will be
presented to suggest that monitoring is inferential and based on cues such as the
fluency with which answers are brought to mind. Monitoring is proposed to be a
continuous processes, and the relationship between monitoring and control
processes will be explicated. In addition to corroborating links between the
metatmemory and the nascent field of metareasoning, I will also provide evidence
that study of metareasoning provides novel insights about both metacognition and
reasoning.
METACOGNITION OF CONCEPTS
Nicholas Shea
King's College London
Concepts are the constituents of thought and underpin much personal level
reasoning. They also allow us to project properties we have learnt about one object
to new objects. For example, I might interact with something I have classified under
my CAT concept and learn that it purrs when stroked. When subsequently
encountering another object that is classified under CAT I can form the expectation
that it will purr if stroked. Reasoning and projection are two core uses of concepts.
Some concepts are more dependable than others for these purposes. This paper will
suggest that thinkers often make use of a sense of how dependable their concepts
are. Such feelings of dependability are not explicit higher order beliefs about a
concept, but a form of what has been called procedural metacognition (Proust 2013
The Philosophy of Metacognition). Metacognition has been studied in relation to
many cognitive processes, prominently memory and decision making, but it is littlestudied in relation to concepts. This paper makes a prima facie case that there
metacognition of concepts, in the form of a non-conceptual representation or feeling
of dependability that is associated with the use of many concepts. It goes on to
explore some philosophical applications of the idea that there is metacognition of
concepts.
Maggie Toplak
York University
Many cognitive abilities show a steady increase throughout childhood and
adolescence, but this is not necessarily accompanied by better rational thinking
performance on several heuristics and biases tasks. Previous research has found
that some rational thinking skills show improvement with age, but others do not
(Davidson, 1995; Jacobs & Potenza, 1991; Klaczynski, 2005; Morsanyi & Handley,
2008; Reyna & Farley, 2006; Reyna et al., 2006). Likewise, our research group has
found that some measures of rational thinking performance are associated with
cognitive ability in adults, and some are not (Stanovich & West, 2008). We have used
a taxonomy of rational thinking tasks that predicts which rational thinking tasks will
associate with development and cognitive ability (Stanovich, West, & Toplak, 2011).
Our taxonomy predicts that only tasks necessitating cognitive decoupling and
analytic override will be significantly associated with cognitive ability and
development. We have examined performance on several rational thinking tasks
(probabilistic choice, belief bias syllogisms, resistance to framing, baserate
sensitivity, and otherside thinking) and measures of cognitive ability (intellectual
abilities and executive functions) in a sample of children (N=204) aged 8-14 years of
age (Toplak, West, & Stanovich, 2014). Developmental differences were found on
our rational thinking tasks and associations with cognitive ability were consistent with
these developmental patterns. These findings suggest that rational thinking tasks
which require analytic override show significant correlations with cognitive abilities as
well as developmental trends. This research contributes to clarifying previous
developmental results on heuristics and biases tasks that appeared to suggest
inconsistent developmental trends.
Jolle Proust
Jean Nicod Institute, CNRS, Paris
There is ample evidence favoring a dual-processing conception of metacognition,
which contrasts Type 1 processes activity-dependent, implicit, fast, automatic, and
inflexible -, with Type 2 processes - activity-independent, explicit, slow, controlled,
and flexible. This contrast, however descriptively adequate, calls for an explanatory
account. The evolutionary pattern of metacognition, the prominent role, in humans, of
epistemic decision at various time scales and resource levels, and the contrast
between associative and inferential cognition point to the engagement of two different
representational systems in human metacognition. While System 1 is based on
relational, subjective, evaluative non-propositional attitudes, System 2 consists in
referential, objective, propositional attitudes, taylored to meet the needs of linguistic
communication. As a consequence of this representational difference, System 1 can
be sensitive to the fluency or effort involved in a cognitive task and predict its likely
correction on this basis. It is not equipped, however, to identify what makes any
specific content true or false. System 2, which can reflectively deal with reasons,
cannot swiftly evaluate or predict correctness of its outputs. To be fully functional,
metacognition must, then, be able to use both systems jointly, in a context-sensitive
way. How is this cooperation at all possible? We will attempt to articulate a tentative
solution to this question, based on a threetiered theory of cognitive action, consonant
with Rolf Reber's recent proposal, in which noetic habits, strategically trained and
monitored, become able to trigger System 1 evaluations.
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Poster sessions
Education:
Pilot
Study
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psychotherapists
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Is writing metarepresentational?
Olivier Morin
Affect and Metacognition: Confidence (in)Sensitivity When Feeling Happy
Yael Sidi, Rakefet Ackerman, Amir Erez
The Roles of Intention and Belief on Mood
Sabina Skubic, Alexander Batthyany
Metacognition at a collective level
Tobias Strzinger
On the cognitive biases as cognitive territories outside positive manifold
continent
Predrag Teovanovi, Lazar Stankov
The development of metacognitive monitoring-control processes in
adolescence
Nike Tsalas, Markus Paulus, Beate Sodian
When problem solving meets metacognition: thinking about writing before
doing it.
Rosa Volpe, Lucile Chanquoy
The Effect of Explicit and Implicit Category Learning on Classification
Accuracy and Confidence
Valnea auhar, Igor Bajanski, Draen Domijan
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Abstracts Posters
Session 1
Meditative Choice is a Good Choice: Connecting Mindfulness, Decision
Making, and Emotions
Christopher J. Anderson, Union College, USA
Steven Jay Lynn, Binghamton University, SUNY, USA
The most common learning method focuses on learning repetition, but is not very
effective for long-term retention. More recently, the testing effect shows testing to be
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more efficient than re-learning. On the other hand, when making a Judgment Of
learning (JOL), people make a covert attempt to retrieve the answer, which can be
regarded as a self-testing. Studies having explored the potential mnemonic benefit of
repeated JOL have yielded ambiguous results. The aim of this study was to compare
JOL with both testing and re-study conditions in a very plain experimental paradigm.
After a single word-pair encoding phase, participants took part in a single session
devoted to re-study, self-monitoring, or testing. The final cued recall test occurred 48
hours later. The strength of the cue-target association was manipulated. The results
show no differences in performances for the easy word pairs. However, with the
difficult material, the monitoring procedure produced comparable memory
performance to testing procedure, and both yielded better levels of performance than
re-study. Retrieval practice seems to underlie both strategies. JOL could be an
alternative to the testing which could have more chance to be adopted.
Author
contact
e-mail
address:
elisabeth.bacon@unistra.fr
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in the ignorance condition. These studies provide first evidence that great apes
understand others false beliefs, challenging humans uniqueness in this respect.
Author contact e-mail address: visbuttelmann@ceu.hu
Mindfulness techniques and related research have become more and more
widespread in recent years. Most studies use self-report questionnaires to assess
dispositional capacities of mindfulness and examine the efficiency of mindfulnessbased trainings in the light of correlating psychological factors (mental health,
emotional difficulties, and stress reactions). However validated behavioral
assessments that would objectively measure mindfulness capabilities are rare to
found. In our study two behavioral tests were developed for the above purpose.
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First, results from a breath counting exercise have been found correlating with
dispositional mindfulness (FFMQ, Baer et al. 2006) and separate from various
indicators of working memory. Second, an exercise based on the Necker cube
illusion was used as a behavioral assessment to measures cognitive flexibility and
conscious presence. Various conditions of the Necker cube exercise have been
found correlating with FFMQ variables and partly with indicators of working memory
and executive functions.
Results of the study indicate that breath counting and Necker cube exercises could
serve as behavioral tests to objectively measure mindfulness capacities.
Key words: Mindfulness, behavioral assessments, FFMQ
Author contact e-mail address: diana.denke@gmail.com
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ethnic group and whether eastern participants are more sensitive to information
shared by several sources. We realized a cross-cultural study (France/Japan) where
participants were confronted with social information after having performed a first
order task. Social information consisted in faces that turned their attention toward the
participant's response (congruent trials) or toward the opposite re
sponse (incongruent trials). At each trial, the participants were asked to rate their
confidence in their response. We manipulate the number of social sources and the
group membership. Preliminary results indicated that the participants' confidence
raised for congruent as compared to incongruent trials. Moreover, this effect
increased with the number of social sources. Ongoing analyses will reveal whether
culture and group membership impact these effects.
Key words: metacognition, social influence, cross-cultural
Author contact e-mail address: amelijacquot@gmail.com
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The aim of the study was examination of relationship between self-reported preferred
thinking style and cognitive reflection.
Total sample of 275 participants (225 women) completed the Cognitive reflection test
(CRT, Frederick, 2005) - 7 items version measuring ability to override intuitive
response and find a correct answer and the Type of intuition scale (TIntS, Pretz et
al., 2014) measuring self-reported preference for four intuitive thinking style: holisticabstract intuition, holistic-big picture intuition, inferential intuition and affective
intuition. 98 of participants (78 women) completed also the Rational-experiential
inventory (REI, Pacini & Epstein, 1999) measuring self-reported preference for
rational and experiential information processing.
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Correct answers in CRT correlated positively, but weak, with rational thinking style
(r=.301,p=.003) and inferential intuition (r=.132, p=.029); and intuitive answers in
CRT positively correlated with experiential thinking style (r=.262, p=.009) and
affective intuition (r=.151,p=.012). On the other hand, positive correlations were
found between self-reported scales REI and TIntS (for REI-R TIntS-I
r=.264,p=.009; REI-E TIntS-A r=.602,p<.000; REI-E TIntS-HA r=.397,p<.000,
REI-E TIntS-I r=.288,p=.004). Weak and moderate correlations between selfreported preference for intuitive and rational thinking style, but only weak
relationships of self-reported preferences with performance in CRT point out that
people were consistent in self-assessment, but the performance did not meet selfimage.
This work is part of research project Centre of Excellence SAS 'Centre for Strategic
Analyses "(CESTA) III / 2 /, 2011.
Key words: inuition, cognitive reflecton, thinking styles, rationality
Author contact e-mail address: expsebal@savba.sk
The ratio bias is a well-known task in the reasoning paradigm where people tend to
experience conflict between the heuristic and analytic answers (Denes-Raj &
Epstein, 1994) or between two possible choices (Bonner & Newell, 2010). The
intervention of top-down processes are crucial in resolving this conflict. However, the
recruitment the cognitive control is still an open question. The conflict monitoring
hypothesis (Botvinick, Braver, Barch, Carter & Cohen, 2001) suggests that the
experience of conflict plays a crucial role in the activation of the top-down processes.
In this research, we tested the conflict monitoring hypothesis in the ratio bias
paradigm. After controlling for possible feature repetitions effects, our analysis
revealed that the experience of the conflict results in a better subsequent conflict
resolution. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
Key words: Reasoning, ratio bias, congruency sequence effect, conflict adaptation,
cognitive control
Author contact e-mail address: palfibence@gmail.com
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advance, or implicitly (priming) can influence retrieval. The more coherent the
narrative, the more accurate is remembering.
We measured retrieval by rating the coherence of narratives given by the
praticipants. Results show the priming group's stories were significantly less coherent
than those of both the label and the control groups. Also the label group performed
significantly better than the other two groups in recollection of the presented stimuli.
We assume that retrieval of novel events is fairly accurate by itself but can be spoiled
by using an inadequate scheme.
Key words: semantic memory, script theory, coherence, retrieval
Author contact e-mail address: carterroulier@gmail.com
The pictures recognition depends on the recovery of perceptual and semantic clues
via a recollection processes. The words recognition will instead be based on a
familiarity process, the phonemic and the lexical clues. However, with an imaging
instruction, the representation of the word then contains a quasi sensory-perceptual
attribute which increases likelihood that recognition will be based on the recollection.
But, in this case, it should be more difficult to decide whether the studied item was a
word or a picture. Nevertheless, the emotional valence of the items could reinforce
the distinction between words and pictures. A corpus of words and photos (positive
valence, negative and neutral) was established for the study. One week after seeing
photos with words or words alone, participants have to clarify whether the word has
been seen with a photo or has been imagined. Results show that words are better
recognized when they are presented with photos. In contrast, the fal
se recognitions rates are higher when words have been imagined. Lastly, the
recollection based on details is more frequent when items are positive and when they
have been perceived. Take into account the emotional valence of the information and
its format are important factors which allow us to move forward on processes
involved in false memories creation, for example in the eyewitness testimony.
Key words: emotion, imagination, false memory, source monitoring
Author contact e-mail address: frederique.robin@univ-nantes.fr
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How likely is it that Snakes are not Reptiles? A new paradigm approach to
Belief Bias.
Edward J. N. Stupple, Amy Benbow-Hebbert
University of Derby
The new paradigm in reasoning research emphasises a shift away from dichotomous
true/false statements and instead embraces the probabilistic nature of the real world.
In belief-bias studies, belief and logic are manipulated to induce heuristic-analytic
biases, and participants are asked if conclusions necessarily follow from premises.
The present study replicated previous belief bias experiments but instead asked how
likely conclusions were to follow, hypothesising that response patterns and response
times would replicate the dichotomous response studies. In an online experiment 44
participants (13 male participants and 31 female) responded on a sliding scale
whereby 10 = necessarily true, 5 = possibly true and 0 = impossible. Standard effects
of belief-bias were replicated, with main effects of Validity (p<.001) and Belief
(p<.001) and an interaction between the two (p=.036). Moreover, response time
effects replicated previously demonstrated patterns, with main effects of validity
(p<.001) demonstrating increased response times for invalid conclusions and with
significant interaction (p<.001) whereby invalid-believable problems exhibited the
longest response times. These data indicate that current theories of belief bias are
robust to a shift toward a probabilistic variation of the belief bias paradigm and may
be adapted to incorporate probabilistic variations of the task.
Key words: Belief-bias, Dual Process theory, Reasoning
Author contact e-mail address: e.j.n.stupple@derby.ac.uk
Enhancing neural excitability of the right vs. left prefrontal cortex differentially
affects consolidation of implicit statistical learning
Csenge Trk, Institute of Psychology, Etvs Lornd University, Budapest, Hungary
Kata Horvth, Institute of Psychology, Etvs Lornd University, Budapest, Hungary
Karolina Janacsek, Institute of Psychology, Etvs Lornd University, Budapest, Hungary
Andrea Antal, Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical
Center, Georg-August University, Gttingen, Germany
Dezso Nemeth, Institute of Psychology, Etvs Lornd University, Budapest, Hungary
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was to directly investigate the causal role of the right and left PFC in
implicit/incidental statistical learning and its consolidation. Transcranial direct current
stimulation (tDCS) over the right or left dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) was applied during
implicit statistical learning in order to modify learning-related cortical plasticity in the
targeted brain regions by increasing neural excitability. Performance was tested
during stimulation and 12-hour later. In order to investigate how brain stimulation
during learning affects sleep-dependent memory consolidation, we compared
experimental groups who did or did not have sleep in the 12-hour consolidation
period (AM-PM vs. PM-AM design). Here we show no sleep effect on consolidation of
implicit sequence memories in sham condition, however, the interaction between
sleep/no sleep condition and tDCS on right vs. left DLPFC was significant. Our
results can lead to a deeper understanding of the relationship between sleep and
memory consolidation.
Key words: implicit learning, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), sleep,
statistical learning and consolidation, prefrontal cortex
Author contact e-mail address: csenge.torok@gmail.com
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In which box does this number go? Breaking down the number categorization
task.
Arnaud Viarouge, CNRS / Universit Paris Descartes, Paris, France
Vronique Izard, CNRS / Universit Paris Descartes, Paris, France
During early school years, children develop an ability to represent the constant
distance separating consecutive integers. To assess this, the most commonly used
task consists in asking children to indicate the location of a number on a physical line
representing a given numerical interval. An alternative, more intuitive task consists in
asking the participants to categorize numbers according to their size. Both paradigms
have shown a shift in childrens responding with age, going from a compressed
(logarithmic-like) pattern, where more numbers are placed on the side of large
numbers, to a linear pattern, where numbers are evenly placed on the line or across
the categories. We tested a group of 362 participants between 1st and 3rd Grade on
a number categorization task using three categories (small, medium, large) to
divide the 0-100 interval. While we replicate the developmental trajectory described
above, detailed regression analyses showed ambiguous response patterns in many
participants, some of them even producing apparent inverse-log scales. Our results
question the validity of the numerical categorization task as a tool to assess
childrens scale of representation of numbers, as the specific strategies used by
children in this paradigm may preclude access to their mental scale for number.
Key words: numerical cognition, categorization, development, number representation
Author contact e-mail address: arnaud.viarouge@parisdescartes.fr
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Session 2
An integrative metacognitive model of mindfulness
Mnika Albu, KRE - Psychological Institute, Budapest
Szondy Mt, KRE - Psychological Institute, Budapest
Diana Denke, KRE - Psychological Institute, Budapest
Humans encode other agents mental states and these attributed mental contents
affect participants behavior. Kovcs et al. (2010) found that the attributed belief
about an object being behind the occluder primed the participants response in a
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visual detection paradigm resulting in faster detection of unexpected objects. Will the
avatars belief interfere with the subjects resulting in slower object detection if there
are different beliefs about what object is behind the occluder? In the current study,
with the avatar being present one of the objects moved behind the occluder. Then
this object is switched for the other; this switch is either witnessed by the avatar or
not, depending on the condition (True/False belief). Then the occluder is raised, and
one of three outcomes are presented for the participant: one of the two or both
objects; participants reaction time being measured in detecting the outcome. For the
one object outcomes we found that the participants (N=22) had faster RT for objects
they expected (effect of own expectation (p=.02)). Crucially we also found that they
were slower when the avatar had a different belief (effect of belief condition(p=.03)).
This result shows that attributed beliefs can interfere with participants own beliefs.
Author contact e-mail address: gaborbrody@gmail.com
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Croatian speakers prefer default to linear agreement, i.e. in sentences in which the
Subject is a conjunction of feminine and neuter nouns the preference for the
Predicate will be the Participle in masculine. Theoretical accounts of this findings will
be given in terms of Boolean IP constituents.
Key words: agreement, conjunction, gender, number, Croatian
Author contact e-mail address: mddraganic@gmail.com
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experiments, we manipulated the nature of the quantities (e.g., time units, distance
units, monetary units, etc.) that could mediate these representations.
We created simple arithmetic problems that could all be solved by two strategies
(either a one-step strategy or a three-step strategy). We hypothesized that only one
strategy would be available at a time, depending on the semantic representation
induced.
In the first experiment, we asked 120 adults to sort problems depending on the
strategies they would use to solve them. A multidimensional scaling analysis
performed on the resulting categories showed that the main factor accounting for the
spontaneous classifications was consistent with the variations introduced between
the quantities.
In the second experiment, 60 participants were instructed to solve similar problems
using a minimal number of steps. The results showed that the choice of one of the
two possible solving strategies depended on the representations induced by the
problems, even when the subjects were instructed to use the shortest strategy they
could think of.
Key words: reasoning, problem solving, semantic structure, strategy choice
Author contact e-mail address: hippolyte.gros@gmail.com
Coordinated Reasoning
Justine Jacot, University of Lund, Sweden
When trying to explain how humans reason, it is common to look for applications of
inference patterns, such as deductive laws of logic. Deductive reasoning tasks focus
on testing the way lay people use some logical skills, taking for granted that the 'logic'
used is classical logic. However, if one agrees that one must reason 'to' an
interpretation before reasoning 'from' an interpretation, coordination on the meaning
of instructions between experimenters and subjects is a precondition to drawing
conclusions about reasoning. Moreover, the linguistic form of the instructions yield
certain pragmatic constraints on the semantic content of the instructions, so that the
relevant information is not automatically identified by subjects. Through the example
of the Double Disjunction Task used in the Theory of Mental Models, I propose a new
model for reasoning tasks, based on coordination between experimenters and
subjects, not only on the syntactic form of the reasoning, or the semantic content of
the instructions, but also on the pragmatic influences that constrain those
instructions. This model can be represented as a double signaling game between the
subject and the experimenter, where a solution exists when coordination is reached
at several levels in each game and across games.
Key words: Psychology of reasoning, logical inference, pragmatics
Author contact e-mail address: justine.jacot@fil.lu.se
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A newly emerging question in Theory of Mind (TOM) research is when exactly the
attributed belief is computed. Taking as example the standard location change task
(SLCT), one can assume that belief is computed when (i) Sally puts her chocolate
into box A, or (ii) when Sally comes back and is going to choose from the containers
in order to find her chocolate. The second possibility (ii) also includes explicit belief
updating situations that could occur when the task itself or other situational
requirements induce a memory search process to find information related to the
belief (as a potential cause to predict behavior) of a social partner. We tested 3-yearold children with a modified SLCT in which children were presented a true belief
situation, in which the model was present during the location change and was
wearing sunglasses. However, then children were allowed to explore her sunglasses,
and it turned out that the sunglasses were opaque. Thus based on their novel
knowledge on the situation children could infer that the model could not follow the
situation despite her presence. If children can re-compute the belief content of the
model, they should act as in a false belief situation. Preliminary results suggest that
3-year-olds can re-calculate the attributed belief based on their memories of earlier
events.
Author contact e-mail address: kiraly.keszei.ildiko@gmail.com
Working memory refers to the set of processes that enable one to hold goal-relevant
information in mind in the face of concurrent processing and/or distraction.
Individual differences in working memory are studied with complex span tasks, which
belong to different domains. Latent variable analysis reveals a general factor of
working memory, which is generally referred to as working memory capacity or
WMC. Thus, whereas working memory as an intra-individual contruct is domainspecific, WMC appears to be largely domain-general. Yet this conclusion is
controversial: there are latent variable studies that favor domain-specific models.
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Research from the past years has pointed out the importance of the neuropeptide
oxytocin in regulating various aspects of social interactions, such as inter-group
behavior. This study explores the question whether such effects may also be present
in social categorization processes. 24 adult males participated in the study with an
age range of 18-35 years. In the first part of the experiment, half of the participants
received intranasal oxytocin, while the other half was given placebo. After a 40minute-long waiting period, participants' categorization processes were assessed
with the memory confusion paradigm. Participants watched a presentation that
showed pictures of six adult men - three belonging to the Caucasian and three to the
African-American racial group. Each face was presented seven times and the
photographs were always accompanied with an utterance. In the test phase,
participants had to match the sentences to the faces from memory and the pattern of
errors was analyzed. The classical results obtained with this paradigm show that
people commit more within-group than between-group errors, which shows that
people organize information based on social category membership. Our preliminary
results indicate that this effect can be mitigated by the oxytocin administration.
Key words: oxytocin, social categorization, race, memory confusion paradigm
Author contact e-mail address: olah.katalin@ppk.elte.hu
It is a well established fact that people, when reasoning, do not follow the laws of
logic but provide information that they consider relevant for the discourse situation. In
fact, the inferences that are found in spoken language are often logically invalid.
In this study we analyze the Croatian corpus of spontaneous spoken language to find
patterns of reasoning and analyze them. In order to convey the intended meaning
participants in the conversation rely on the discourse markers. We concentrate on 'If then', 'therefore', 'moreover' and 'although' discourse markers as the facilitators of
logical or causal inferences.
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The analysis will include two aspects of reasoning: logical form of the inferences
found in spoken language and the quantity and the precision of the information that is
exchanged in the discourse situation (e. g. how precise speakers are in telling time
regarding the discourse situation).
The corpus consists of 51 transcripts of spontaneous conversations between
Croatian adult speakers (20+) and is analyzed with CHAT/CLAN programme
package.
The study is conducted within the project "Adult language processing" (UIP-11-2013)
founded by Croatian Science Foundation.
Key words: reasoning, relevance theory, discourse, spoken language corpora
Author contact e-mail address: marina.olujic@erf.hr
Main generators of epileptic seizures in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) are
the amygdala and hippocampus, which are also associated with memory and
depression. We applied the free recall memory task in order to evaluate short-term
verbal memory and to explore possible cognitive vulnerability to depression in MTLE.
We also investigated the correlations between self-reported inventory scores and
memory results in MTLE subjects. Inventory scores included the Quality of life in
epilepsy inventory total score and its cognitive functioning domain score and BDI II.
We hypothesised that short-term memory in MTLE is impaired and cognitive
vulnerability to depression may be present. MTLE subjects (N=39) were paired with
healthy controls according to age, sex and education.
Compared to controls, MTLE subjects have significant memory deficit, measured by
number of correctly recalled words. Only in control subjects, memory for negative
valence words is significantly reduced in comparison with neutral or positive. Within
the MTLE group, memory is significantly reduced in its total score and for positive
valence words if depressive symptoms are present. The memory results significantly
correlate with each self-reported questionnaire score.
Key words: temporal lobe epilepsy, behavioural task, short-term verbal memory,
cognitive vulnerability to depression, self-reported subjective inventory
Author contact e-mail address: lidija_preglej@yahoo.com
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The objective of this poster is to indicate important gaps in empirical research in the
field of educational psychology on the subject of metamemory. First of all the concept
of metamemory is rarely discerned from metacognition. Moreover metamemory is
traditionally believed to consist of two aspects: one is related to self-consciousness
and the other is the knowledge about the memory in general. One may be surprised
to find so little research has been done on the latter aspect, with regard to
interpersonal relations. This shortage is clearly problematic as far as understanding
of the process of teaching is concerned. Last but not least as the scarce research
concerning the interpersonal aspect of metamemory focuses solely on the
metacognitive capabilities of students, it neglects the question of the teachers'
capabilities. Filling this absence could lead to a better understanding of how
metamemory functions between people, and - ultimately - would help to improve the
teachers' training.
Key words: metamemory, educational psychology, review
Author contact e-mail address: riessmarta@gmail.com
Recent studies suggest that together with language abilities executive functions
(EFs) can also be impaired in aphasia. Moreover, these functions can play a role in
language processing. We examined the updating of working memory (WM), and two
inhibition functions: prepotent response inhibition (PRI) and representational conflict
resolution in eight patients with aphasia with a lesion in their left frontal lobe, and
eight controls. Then we analyzed the relationship between EFs and language
performance.
We expected patients with aphasia to demonstrate lower performance on tasks
involving EFs than controls, and we also hypothesized that language comprehension
is going to be associated with updating and/or inhibition abilities in aphasia.
Our results showed that PRI and updating WM representations are both impaired in
aphasia. Performance on comprehension of grammatical structures and updating
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Is there any correlation between fluid intelligence (Gf) and fluencies in both easy
and difficult deductions? Does learning logic have any impact on the level of
fluencies in both kinds of deductions?
Tools: Raven's APM (alpha = .83), Deductive Reasoning Test (DR, alpha = .64),
Erotetic Reasoning Test (ER, alpha = .78), Polisyllogisms Test (PS; McDonalds
omega total = .8); DR, ER and PS were designed by the authors, operationalizing
easy (DR) and difficult (ER and PS) deductions.
Subjects: Our subjects (154 students, M=21,69, SD=1,44) formed groups of lower
(group C) and higher (groups A and B) abilities with respect to fluid intelligence and
of extensive (group A) and very limited (groups B and C) training in formal logic.
Results: Groups A and B performed better than group C in APM, DR and ER. Group
A obtained significantly higher results than group B in ER and PS; their performance
in APM and DR were comparable. We conclude on this basis that deductions of
different complexities call for different abilities to be manifested and that fluency in
difficult deductions, while related to Gf, depends also on subjects experience and
that this does not hold in case of simple deductions.
Author contact e-mail address: murbansk@amu.edu.pl
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Session 3
Solvable or Not Solvable? Heuristic Cues that Underlie the Judgment of
Solvability
Yael Beller, Technion--Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Rakefet Ackerman, Technion--Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Purpose: Using MEG and fMRI, the aim of this study was to investigate non-native
speakers' metacognitive abilities and reasoning stem from rational thinking to adopt a
new template of Arabic grammatical aspects.
Design and Method: In this quantitative and qualitative study, two measurement tools
were used to evaluate participants' performance: Two tests of grammatical
production and neuroimaging test.
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Students difficulties in mathematics and science may stem from interference of the
tasks salient irrelevant variables. Here, we focus on a comparison of perimeters
task, in which the area is the irrelevant salient variable. In congruent trials (no
interference), accuracy is higher and reaction time is shorter than in incongruent trials
(area variable interference).
A brain-imaging study indicated that correctly answering the incongruent condition is
associated with activation in prefrontal brain regions known for their executive
inhibitory control. These findings suggested that intervention aimed at activating
inhibitory control mechanisms could improve students success.
We explored the effect of an intervention that explicitly warns about the possible
interference of the variable area. Eighty-four sixth graders performed the same test,
with warning intervention (warning group) or without it (control group).
Accuracy in the warning group was significantly higher in incongruent conditions and
reaction time was significantly longer in all conditions than in the control group. The
results suggest that the explicit warning activates inhibitory control mechanisms and
thus helps students overcome the interference.
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14-month old infants represent others' beliefs about the number and identity of
objects
Dora Kampis, Central European University, Hungary
gnes Melinda Kovcs, Central European University, Hungary
:
Infants understanding of others beliefs has been investigated through a wide range
of tasksWe tested the proposed limitations of infants mindreading capacities that
should not extend to beliefs regarding object identity or numerosity (Butterfill &
Apperly, 2013). We used a manual search paradigm where infants search longer if
they think there is still an object present (Feigenson & Carey, 2003). Infants saw a
scene where 1 (in Study 1, 3 and 4) or 2 (in Study 2) objects were put into a box by
Experimenter 1 (E1). Then a further object was added (Study 1), one was taken out
(Study 2), exchanged to another object (Study 3), or transformed into another
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Aim: The aim of the study is to reveal how metacogniton promotes performance in
basic spatial cognition tasks.
Method: The study examines the estimated performance of subjects grouped by
profession (designers and non-designers) in four spatial manipulation tasks of
increasing complexity (Kasek & Albu, 2014). The baseline task (Task1) is a modified
Corsi where homogenous stimuli (dots) are displayed sequentially and requires
correct localization. Task2 requires spatial recall of simultaneously displayed
numbers in numeric order. Task3 repeats Task2 in self-paced timing (measured by
inspection time; index A of metacognition). Task4 requires numeric interferenceinhibition and correct localization. After each task, subjects are asked to rate their
performance in comparison with their virtual peers (index B of metacognition).
Results: Results show positive metacognition effect on localization in Task3 by index
A. Subjects' estimations of their own and their virtual peers performance - measured
by index B - were precise. However, based on the results, designers tend to
somehow underestimate their own performance.
Conclusions: Metacognition plays an important role in basic spatial cognition,
includes monitoring and estimation of both self and others performance. On the other
hand, it seems that type of expertness (e.g. designers) can moderately affect
metacognition effectiveness.
Key words: metacognition, performance rating, spatial cognition, expertness
Author contact e-mail address: roland@kasek.com
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In our research we assume that the understanding of the numbers derives from the
system in which they are anchored. Our hypothesis is that children discover the
meanings of number words based on their knowledge about the objects, number
words being anchored in the understanding of the objects semantic system, and
matching sets. Children are able to perform those numerical operations that can be
performed on the objects as well. Furthermore we assume that numbers could be
anchored to other semantic systems too. Using a different kind of anchoring we can
expand the set of meaningful operations, because they can be transferred from the
newly anchored semantic system to the numbers.
We test this model with the learning of negative numbers. We expect that in the case
of the original object based analogy the negative numbers are hard to understand.
However, anchoring the numbers to a spatial number line can help understanding the
operations on negative numbers.
Participants included first and second graders (8 and 9 years olds). In order to test
the two possible anchorings, we gave the children simple arithmetical operations
such as addition and subtraction, using different counting tools: either number line or
marbles. According to the results children make less error with number line than with
marbles. This result is in a dissociation with our former result showing that younger
children prefer objects over a number line for operations with natural numbers. We
conclude that anchoring the abstract layer of numbers to several domains can extend
the capabilities of numerical understanding. This multiple anchoring is a key
component in abstract mathematical thinking and flexible numerical processing.
Key words: negative numbers, semantic system, anchoring
Author contact e-mail address: kisorsolia@gmail.com
Low cognitive load and reduced arousal impede practice effects on executive
functioning, metacognitive confidence and decision making
Sabina Kleitman, University of Sydney, Australia
Simon A Jackson, University of Sydney, Australia
Eugene Aidman, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australia
We investigated the effects of low cognitive workload and the absence of arousal
induced via external physical stimulation (motion) on practice-related improvements
in executive (inhibitory) control, short-term memory, metacognitive monitoring and
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decision making. Office workers (N=70) performed low and moderately engaging
tasks in two successive 20-minute simulated drives and repeated a battery of
decision making and inhibitory control tests three times before, between and after
drives. For half the participants, visual simulation was synchronised with (moderately
arousing) motion. Others performed the same drive without motion. Performance
significantly improved over the three test blocks, indicative of practice effects.
Improvement was highest when both motion and moderate cognitive load were
present. The same effects declined in the absence of motion or following a low
cognitive workload task, suggesting two distinct pathways through which practicerelated improvements in cognitive performance may be hampered. Practice,
however, degraded certain aspects of metacognitive performance, as participants
became less likely to detect incorrect decisions in the decision-making test with each
subsequent test block. Implications include consideration of low cognitive load and
arousal as factors responsible for performance decline and targets for the
development of interventions/strategies in low load/arousal conditions such as
autonomous vehicle operations and highway driving.
The authors were funded by the Defence Capability Development Group Project
Land 121 Phase 4 (http://www.army.gov.au/Our-future/Projects/Project-LAND-121)
under the Research Agreement 558023.
Author contact e-mail address: sabina.kleitman@sydney.edu.au
Distance effect in numerical cognition means that the closer two quantities are
numerically, the more difficult it is to differentiate between them. However, instead of
originating from the numerical meaning (i.e., values) of the numbers as in 5-2=3, the
distance effect might reflect a surface characteristic such as the connection of the
labels.
While the meaning and the label connections correlate in normal circumstances (e.g.,
in the Indo-Arabic notation), artificial number sequences with gaps (e.g., 1, 2, 5, 6)
can dissociate the two properties. In a sequence with gaps the meaning model
predicts that the distance effect changes with the values of the digits (e.g., the 2-5
distance is 3), while the label model predicts that the distance effect changes with the
position of the digit in the incomplete series (e.g., the 2-5 distance is 1).
Participants learned artificial symbols for the 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9 numbers and then
compared them in pairs in which they had to choose the numerically larger number.
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Both models were able to explain our data to some extent, thus suggesting that both
label and meaning jointly contribute to the distance effect.
Key words: numerical cognition, distance effect
Author contact e-mail address: kojouharova.petia@ppk.elte.hu
Is writing metarepresentational?
Olivier Morin, KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria
The standard view of writing, dating back to Aristotle, sees writing as a derivative
code: a secondary representation of a natural language. This view has been
challenged. It has been noted that writing cannot be said to represent speech, but
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rather, more abstract properties of natural language.s The status of visual codes
such as pictographies, mathematical or musical notations, etc. can also be discussed
in this connexion. This poster will defend a revamped version of the standard,
aristotelian thesis. Writing will be defined as a general-purpose visual code for
asynchronous communication. It is distinct from both sign language (which is
attached to synchronous communication) and specialised graphic codes. I will offer a
conjecture as to why general-purpose codes for asynchronous communication tend
to be backed by a natural language.
Key words: writing, language, semiotics
Author contact e-mail address: olivier.morin@kli.ac.at
The relationship between positive affect and metacognition has been scarcely
studied. The present research examined the influence of induced positive affect on
metacognitive processes while answering challenging general knowledge questions.
Participants were induced with positive or neutral affect by a picture-tagging task.
Based on previous findings, we expected positive affect to facilitate memory search
and boost confidence compared to a neutral affective state. Our aim was to examine
whether this confidence boost would reliably reflect task-related performance
fluctuations. Two manipulations took place for influencing performance without
effecting actual knowledge: answering format and social motivation. We
hypothesized that positive affect will generate insensitivity of confidence ratings to
task-related performance fluctuations. All predictions were supported. In particular,
positive affect did enhance performance and confidence relative to the neutral affect.
However, compared to the neutral affective state, under positive affect participants
exhibited larger overconfidence and were less sensitive to performance fluctuations.
Our results suggest that although positive affect facilitates cognitive performance, it
impairs metacognitive monitoring. Practical and theoretical implications for both affect
and metacognition bodies of literature are discussed.
Key words: positive affect, metacognitive monitoring, general knowledge,
overconfidence
Author contact e-mail address: yaelsidi@tx.technion.ac.il
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My empirical study was set to explore whether eating apples blessed by Hare
Krishna would enhance mood more than eating ordinary apples and how belief on
which apples you receive influence your mood. 20 participants were randomly
assigned into two groups, one receiving blessed and one non-blessed apples, which
was not revealed until after the experiment. They filled out a questionnaire before
eating apples which measured sensory processing sensitivity, an impact of their
mindset on their mood, religious and paranormal beliefs, their mood in that moment
and general likeness of apples. After eating given apples they indicated which apples
they thought they received and filled out the PANAS questionnaire, measuring their
mood just after receiving apples.
Analysis of the results is still in the process. Participants are to be divided into four
groups, depending on which kind of apples they received and on their beliefs of
which apples they have received. My hypothesis is that apples treated with good
intention improve mood more than ordinary apples and that belief and intention
interact, meaning that belief that one is eating a blessed apple improves mood more
if the apple is truly blessed.
Key words: intentional food, mind-set, belief, mood
Author contact e-mail address: sabina.skubic@gmail.com
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argue that a (metacognitive) deliberative process can also be a vital part of explicit
organizational structures because the process of generating individual beliefs, upon
which the collective beliefs supervene, is not an individualistic and isolated truth
tracking mechanism but a collective exchange of arguments. The metacognitive
function of a collective is then realized through deliberation before voting to generate
a group belief.
Key words: Collective Metacognition, Distributed (Meta-)cognition
Author contact e-mail address: Tobias.Stoerzinger@philo.uni-stuttgart.de
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Introduction:
Writing is a complex task requiring the triggering of problem solving abilities
(Alamargot & Chanquoy, 2001). The role metacognition plays on the written
processes has met little attention within this field of research, with few exceptions.
Goal of the experiment: This study addresses the following questions : can primary
school children develop metacognitive knowledge about writing? It predicts that
encouraged to develop metacognitive knowledge about writing, young children
should manage to integrate such knowledge into their productions.
Method:
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Subjects: Third, Fourth and Fifth graders participated to this study and were divided
into experimental and control group.
Material: 4 metacognitive questionnaires on the process of writing for the
experimental group. 4 questionnaires about the writing process for both groups.
Procedure: Before answering to the open questions about writing experimental group
children had to mark their agreement/disagreement with the statements within each
metacognitive questionnaire which aimed at developing their metacognitive
awareness and knowledge about writing.
Results:
Results show that the children within the experimental group became metacognitively
aware, and they integrated such metacognitive knowledge into their answers to the
questions. Compared to the control group, the experimental group integrated a
higher number of metacognitive items into their productions.
Author contact e-mail address: rosa.volpe@unice.fr
The aim of study was to investigate how activation of explicit and implicit
categorization systems during learning affects classification accuracy and confidence
judgments in the later test phase. One group of participants was informed about the
correct classification rule at the beginning of the learning phase (rule condition).
Another group was never informed about the rule (no-rule condition).
In the test phase, old and new items were presented. New items differed from the old
items with respect to transfer type (good or bad) and item consistency (consistent or
inconsistent). Good transfer items belonged to the same category as their old twin
item, while bad transfer items belonged to the opposite category. Consistent items
were highly similar to their old twins, while inconsistent items were less similar.
In the rule condition, the results showed that neither transfer type nor item
consistency affected classification accuracy or confidence judgments. In the no-rule
condition, the results showed that transfer type affected accuracy, but not
confidence. On the other hand, item consistency affected confidence but not
accuracy. The results suggest that explicit category learning system is activated in
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the rule condition, while implicit category learning system is activated in the non-rule
condition.
Key words: category learning systems, classification accuracy, confidence judgments
Author contact e-mail address: vzauhar@ffri.hr
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