Published: Dec. 14, 2017

Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is difficult to reduce to an efficient and ecologically valid experimental paradigm allowing the measurement of working memory (WM) and attention — key components of all cognitive models of SI. These models could be validated and further refined in light of electrophysiological evidence. Here we propose a novel method for estimating WM load and report the results of our electroencephalographic study that lend support to the prediction of the Efforts Model of SI (Gile, 1988). In particular, this model predicts that increased WM load impairs the processing of auditory stimuli. Consistent with the model, the P1 and …

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Published: April 1, 2016

In the current study, two standardized English-language assessments, the AWMA by T.P. Alloway (2007) and the WMRS (Alloway, Gathercole, & Kirkwood, 2008), were translated into Russian. The translated version of the AWMA was undertaken by 51 adults and 73 primary school children, and the translated version of the WMRS was completed by the teachers who worked with those children. The WMRS is a questionnaire list for teachers with 20 items which describe possible behavior manifestations of poor working memory in the classroom. The AWMA is a computer test battery with 12 subtests which aim to assess verbal short-term memory, verbal …

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Published: May 31, 2014

The mesolimbic dopamine system is believed to be a key component in the processing of rewarding information by the brain, although the precise nature of dopamine release remains unknown. Avoidance conditioning combines reward (positive) and aversion (negative) phenomena. Here the activity of 60 neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) was studied in freely moving rabbits during the acquisition and performance of an active avoidance. A total of 48 % of the recorded neurons responded to the conditioned stimulus (CS). A significant predominance of excitatory responses to the (CS) was demonstrated. Two main patterns of cell responses to the CS …

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Published: Sept. 18, 2014

The influence of expectation on inattentional blindness (IB) was investigated using a lexical-based IB task. In two experiments, 235 participants performed word compilations from briefly presented letters and combinations of letters with an unexpected syllable appearing in one of the trials. In Experiment 1, we varied the frequency and grammatical form ofthe presented words, evaluating the role of “general” and “contextual” expectations. The results showed the effect of frequency but not of the grammatical form of the words. Experiment 2 controlled for the role of the state of completion of the word compilation in generating “contextual” expectations. We varied two …

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Published: Sept. 26, 2014

One of the urgent problems in cognitive studies and in neurobiology as a whole is to delineate the impact of genetic factors in the variability of animal cognitive abilities. The concept of animal cognition is frequently used in a broad sense to include all phenomena with behavioral manifestations of neural plasticity. The variable phenomena related to animal cognition could be subdivided into two main categories, although only the first of them will be analyzed in this paper. The first category is represented by “basal” cognitive abilities, which embrace spatial cognitive behavior and elementary reasoning (simple logic task solutions). The second …

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Published: Jan. 1, 2014

Almost 50 years ago, Reber described implicit learning as the unintentional and unconscious processing of regularities in the environment. Since then, psychologists have actively investigated this phenomenon. However, there is currently no unambiguous description of the mechanisms of implicit learning. Moreover, the descriptions of implicit learning properties vary depending on the approach to the phenomenon. The main theoretical accounts developed in the last decades are presented in this work. Four types of theories are identified, which differ in how they answer two main questions: 1) How explicit is the knowledge acquired during implicit learning?; and 2) How automatically is it …

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Published: Jan. 1, 2014

This paper describes the possible methodological techniques of evaluation of the problem solving process as the main task by a secondary probe task. We propose a method of estimation of the microdynamics of thought processes via changes in the dynamics of working memory load in problem solving by a probe monitor. The results of assessment of the dynamics of working memory load in insight and algorithmized problem solving via a two-alternative choice task are shown. There are significant differences between the dynamics of working memory load in insight and algorithmized problem solving in the last stages, which confirm the hypothesis …

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Created: Sept. 13, 2022

A great amount of evidence has now been accumulated indicating that many aspects of cognition, including language are closely interconnected with or “grounded” in the sensory-motor modalities. In this respect, an interesting line of research that has not yet been studied in great detail is whether activation of the sensory-motor brain areas can be found when figurative language is processed. Two experiments were conducted to address the following questions: firstly, can evidence of effector-specific motor activation be found in the processing of idioms; secondly, how would such activation unfold in time? We hypothesized that highly imageable idioms are more strongly …

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Published: Jan. 1, 2014

In the second year of life, infants are actively interested in objects used by adults, despite the number of experienced difficulties in achieving their goals while handling these objects. What causes the child attempt to handle an object for a designated purpose while watching the adult? One of the evident explanations concerns the effectiveness of the adults behavior and the child’s desire to achieve the same result. However, multiple studies have shown that a child is guided not exclusively by the hoped-for result, but also by the adults intention. In our study, we verified the reason guiding a child’s choice …

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Published: Aug. 23, 2019

If a well-known word is a part of an anagram stimulus, it may complicate the process of solving the anagram. This may happen because a word inside the anagram may serve as a semantic prime, or because such a word is a chunk that is difficult to decompose. We manipulated the structural features of word and nonword chunks in anagram stimuli to find out which features of a chunk, semantic or structural, are more influential in anagram solving. The results showed that the semantic but not the structural features of a chunk are more important for five-letter anagrams, while none …

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