Browsing by study line "Cognitive Science"

This master's thesis investigates how the saliency of user interface components affect users when they choose between two options. Many services have moved online and they usually ask their users to accept web cookies that are either necessary for the functioning of the service or improve it. Users are enticed to operate to the advantage of the service provider by offering an attention-grabbing salient option for acceptance. For this thesis, software was developed, in which users were presented with three types of dialogues, with a difference in visibility between the two UI components. The user was offered two normal buttons to choose from, a normal button with a background-free button, or a normal button with a link. The experiment had 20 participants who were monitored using eye-tracking camera glasses, and the speed and accuracy of their tasks were measured using timestamps at the clicking of a button. The tasks were so easy that almost all participants were able to choose requested action even though the task was asked to be done as fast as possible. The layout of the buttons had no statistically significant effect on speed, but the text of the button had: the quickest was to select the button that contained the text OK. In the experiment, the marking of the areas of the direction of the gaze was not precise enough to determine where the user first looks. However, statistically significant the fastest was to complete the task where the most salient option was the correct option, regardless of whether the user looked at only this side or both sides of the dialogue, or those cases where the right answer was a positive option on the right side of the dialog. Surprisingly, without the ecologically valid framing created by the task, the mere visibility of the component was not a significant factor, but the text of the UI component was.

Previous research has found connections between Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA) and different personality traits, psychological disorders, and stress. FAA has also been found to differ between people scoring higher on Behavioral Inhibition scale (BIS) or Behavioral Activation scale (BAS). Yet, there are incongruous results on whether the FAA can be found from the resting or the active state brain activity. Additionally, research on musical expertise and its connections to the BIS/BAS scores and frontal alpha power is scarce, although studies report that musicians tend to score higher on openness, compared to non-musicians, and their brain activity differs from non-musicians. The aim of this thesis was to study possible interactions between FAA, BIS/BAS scores and musical expertise. The EEG data were collected from musicians (N = 20) and non-musicians (N = 21) while they were engaged in two sound discrimination tasks. Additionally, participants were asked to rate their performance, emotions, and arousal. Participants were divided into two groups according to their BAS scores, and the results of the questionnaires and frontal alpha power were compared between musicians and non-musicians, and between two BAS-groups. The results did not show significant interaction between BAS-scores and questionnaire scores or musical expertise and questionnaire scores. Additionally, no significant difference in FAA was found between participants scoring lower or higher on BAS-scale, or between musicians and non-musicians. Yet, musicians overall alpha power was higher than non-musicians, and most of the musicians scored higher on BAS scale, compared to non-musicians. Future studies on BIS/BAS sensitivity should take into account possible connection between musical experts and personality scores.

This thesis examines the notion of representational content in philosopher Frances Egan’s deflationary account of mental representation (DAMR) for cognitive neuroscience. In particular, this thesis explores to what extent DAMR’s pragmatic account of representational content answers to the content determinacy constraint. The content determinacy constraint is a constraint on an account of mental representation which holds that an account must provide the basis for attributing determinate content to the posited computational states. For example, the constraint requires that an account must specify the conditions under which a given representational content — such a fly — is attributed to a given representational vehicle — such as some particular structures in a frog’s brain. A variety of naturalistic “tracking theories” — broadly, theories which attempt to answer to such a constraint in terms of a privileged naturalistic relation holding between some object and the inner mental state in question — are often held to have thus far failed to satisfactorily meet this constraint. Egan’s deflationary account promises to address this constraint in a way which departs from naturalistic tracking theories (and from several other theories as well). It promises to do this by proffering a notion of representational content which says that such content is fundamentally pragmatic, and that this ultimately allows the account to avoid the problems typically associated with tracking theories. I will examine how DAMR purports to meet the content determinacy constraint via its pragmatic account of content. To this end, I will raise a content indeterminacy concern for one of the pragmatic functions of content DAMR maintains. I will examine several potential lines of response to this indeterminacy concern, some of which I will evaluate as more or less successful. The first chapter introduces the central research aims, methods, and an ethical research statement. The second chapter consists in the theoretical backdrop against which DAMR is situated, in particular, with regard to how the notions of “representation” and “computation” have been employed in cognitive science historically. The third chapter consists in a detailed explication of the components of DAMR, including a careful differentiation between its realist and computational elements and its pragmatic elements. This is followed by an explication of how DAMR purports to meet the content determinacy constraint. The fourth chapter consists in a theoretical concern which suggests some pragmatic elements of DAMR might be vulnerable to a content indeterminacy concern; and, a variety of potential responses to the indeterminacy concern raised. The fifth chapter consists in setting out the central conclusion of the thesis and suggesting four potential areas for future investigation. The central conclusion of this thesis is that DAMR faces a “limited” content indeterminacy concern for at least one of its pragmatic elements. However, I highlight that there are several ambiguities which require resolution prior to consideration if the concern raised extends to other elements of the account. I propose that the results of this thesis demonstrate the need for further clarification with regard to the way in which DAMR is committed to the content determinacy constraint. Ultimately, the concerns raised along with the ambiguities noted should serve to facilitate further philosophical evaluation of DAMR.

Objective. Empathy is essential for successful collaboration. Empathic mechanisms partly rely on receiving sensory socioemotional information during social interactions, such as facial expressions. Today, computer-mediated communication (CMC) covers a large part of daily social environments. However, socioemotional information during CMC is restricted, which directly impacts social processes and therefore, different empathic skills may become beneficial in CMC environments compared to face-to-face interactions. The impacts of CMC on social processes are insufficiently understood and studies provide mixed results. Physiological synchrony is a useful tool to study underlying aspects of social interactions. In psychophysiology, physiological states can be evaluated according to physiological responses, such as changes in electrodermal activity (EDA), which is a measure of sympathic nervous system activity. EDA synchrony is connected to empathy and collaboration in several studies. The purpose of this study is to reveal connections between empathic skills, collaborative task performance and EDA synchrony in CMC environment. Methods. EDA signals of twenty-nine pairs were recorded during collaborative task performance in VR environment. Participants were unfamiliar with each other and could not see each other during performance. Before the experiment, they conducted two empathy tests: Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME). The performance was measured and connected with empathic abilities using statistical methods. EDA synchrony indices were calculated for each pair, and were statistically connected with empathy and task performance. Results and Conclusions. The results surprisingly showed that IRI subscale ’personal distress’ predicts collaborative task performance in VR environment. Personal distress reflects emotional sensitivity and is conneceted to social avoidance and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. This result indicates that different social skills become beneficial in CMC environment, where participants cannot see each other, as in face- to-face collaboration. In addition, RME, which reflect skills in complex emotion recognition, was connected to performance on a trend level, which is supported by previous findings. EDA synchrony occured, but was not connected with either empathic skills or collaboration.

Statistical learning is a universal cognitive mechanism that allows humans to detect patterns and regularities in their environment, playing a crucial role in various cognitive functions, including language acquisition. This research delved into the relationship between subjective sleep quality, measured using the PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) questionnaire, and statistical language learning in adults. In two separate studies, participants' performances in statistical language learning were measured: Study 1 (N = 97) and its replication in Study 2 (N = 120). Both studies utilised the two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) recognition task, complemented by a confidence judgement rating. The results showed a significant learning effect above chance in both studies, highlighting adults' capability for statistical language learning. Explicit learning mechanisms significantly contributed to statistical language learning, highlighting the vital role of the declarative memory hippocampal-prefrontal cortex system in adult statistical language learning. Study 1 found that a logarithmic model most suitably represented the relationship between subjective sleep quality and statistical language learning performance. This model showed an initial drop in learning performance as subjective sleep quality declined, but performance stabilised with a further decline in subjective sleep quality. However, this relationship was not statistically significant in Study 2. While this research provides novel insights into the interplay between sleep quality and statistical language learning, future studies should consider subjective and objective sleep measures for a more comprehensive investigation. The research findings have implications for understanding the cognitive mechanisms underpinning language learning and the potential influence of sleep quality on these processes.

Tarkastelen abrahamilaisen institutionaalisen jumalauskon kehittymistä, omaksumista ja säilymistä selittäviä kognitiivisia ja evolutiivisia mekanismeja 2010-luvun psykologisen tutkimuksen ja kognitiivisen uskontotieteen filosofien näkökulmista. Jumalauskon kehittymisen ovat mahdollistaneet seuraavat kognitiiviset tekijät: intuitiivinen ajattelutyyli, kognitiiviset vinoumat eli ontologiset kategoriasekaannukset, teleologinen ajattelu ja dualismi sekä skitsotypia. Nykyisen muotonsa jumalausko on kuitenkin saanut tuhansia vuosia kestäneen kulttuurillisen tiedon omaksumisen, säilyttämisen, muokkaamisen ja edelleen siirtämisen prosessien kautta. Yksilö omaksuu uskon jumalaan kulttuuriympäristöstään. Lisäksi yksilöllistä vaihtelua selittävät yllä eritellyt kognitiiviset tekijät. Yksilötasolla jumalauskon säilymistä motivoi eksistentiaalisen toimintakyvyn ylläpitäminen: usko toimii turvan lähteenä, maailmaa jäsentävänä mallina sekä mahdollisesti torjuu kuolemanpelkoa. Uskomiseen motivoitunut henkilö hakeutuu tilanteisiin, joissa hän kokee jumalan läsnäolon. Nämä kokemukset jumalan läsnäolosta vahvistavat uskoa entisestään. Yhteisötasolla jumalauskoa ylläpitää kyseenalaistamista vaikeuttava sosiaalinen paine, joka ilmenee epävakaissa elinolosuhteissa

To make fast and efficient decisions in changing environments, humans must plan their actions throughout their lives by maintaining and updating relevant information. Such goal-directed situations demand flexible adjustment of behavior and the suppression of task-irrelevant details. Executive dysfunctions in cognitive flexibility, working memory and inhibition have been related to aberrant prefrontal cortex functioning. The prefrontal cortex has previously been found to have an important role in these executive functions as a supervisory modulator and processor of information from posterior sensory brain areas. Structural and functional abnormalities in these brain areas have been found in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These impairments may be the underlying reason for problems in decision making and planning for people with ADHD. However how the brain’s oscillatory activity modulates different cognitive functions in areas relating to planning and decision making is still unclear. To investigate thisthe brain’s activity was measured with MEG while participants (21 ADHD patients, 28 controls) performed in Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST). WCST is a fast-paced task, where cards are sorted according to changing rule categories with the direction of feedback. The aim of this study was to investigate planning in adults with ADHD and a control group during WCST planning period and compare trials with previous feedback being correct or incorrect. Difference in the local neuronal activity in prefrontal and posterior areas were expected between the ADHD and control groups. Data-analysis and source modelling and reconstruction were conducted on the neuronal (MEG) data and structural (MRI) data. Statistical analyses were run for local neuronal amplitude dynamics and visualized within and between groups. The behavioral results of reaction times and hit rates did not show significant differences between groups. Clinical questionnaire scores did not correlate with reaction times. However, contrast of planning in correct-incorrect feedback trials within groups showed increased and decreased brain activity in delta, theta, alpha and beta oscillations. The control group showed activity in frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital regions related to default mode, somatomotor with increased activity in the beta and alpha bands. For the ADHD group greatest positive activity was seen in beta band in frontal and parietal areas, but also in occipital regions. These activation sites were mostly related to dorsal and ventral attention and somatomotor networks but also to default mode and visual networks. Mostly temporal activity of suppressed delta, theta and alpha oscillations in the lateral areas was seen in the between groups comparison. These areas related to ventral attention and somatomotor networks. Impaired neuronal activity in the ADHD group was seen in weaker increased beta than the control group and the missing increased alpha oscillations. It remains for the future studies to interpret the roles of this oscillatory activity but direction towards impairments in cognitive functions like flexibility, working memory and inhibition in planning in ADHD. These data also suggest that planning in the WCST needs the flexible modulation of many cognitive functions and processes that are modulated by increased alpha and beta oscillations and the suppressed delta and theta oscillations.

Tutkielma käsittelee optimismivinouman esiintymistä tulevaisuusskenaarioissa, joiden aiheena on ilmastonmuutos. Siinä missä skenaariomenetelmän käyttö voi vähentää tiettyjen kognitiivisten vinoumien vaikutusta tulevaisuutta koskevissa arvioissa, toiset vinoumat voivat puolestaan haitata skenaarioiden laatimista ja arviointia. On arveltu, että useissa eri konteksteissa esiintyvä optimismivinouma näyttäytyisi myös skenaariomenetelmän yhteydessä. Tutkimus selvittää kokeellisesti, esiintyykö ilmastonmuutosaiheisten skenaarioiden arvioinneissa optimismivinoumaa, eli pitävätkö koehenkilöt positiivisia skenaarioita muita todennäköisempinä. Lisäksi tarkastellaan, onko skenaario-optimismi yhteydessä optimismivinoumaan toisessa kontekstissa mitattuna sekä muihin muuttujiin. Tutkimuskysymysten selvittämiseksi koostettiin kyselylomake, joka lähetettiin Helsingin yliopiston ainejärjestöjen sähköpostilistoille. Kyselyyn tuli 182 vastausta. Tutkittaville esitettiin neljä skenaariota, jotka vaihtelivat positiivisesta negatiiviseen, ja ne käsittelivät saimaannorpan selviytymistä ja kannan kokoa 50 vuoden päästä. Koehenkilöiden tuli asettaa skenaariot todennäköisyysjärjestykseen, jonka pohjalta kullekin vastaajalle laskettiin tietty optimistisuuden taso. Keskimäärin vastaajat olivat pessimistisiä arvioissaan, ja tämä optimistisuuslukema jäi alle neutraalina pidetyn arvon. Skenaarioarvioissa ei siis esiintynyt optimismivinoumaa. Optimismivinoumaa mitattiin myös laittamalla koehenkilöt arvioimaan eri elämäntapahtumien todennäköisyyksiä omalla kohdallaan verrattuna muihin. Näissä kysymyksissä optimismivinoumaa esiintyi, sillä vastaajat arvelivat keskimäärin kokevansa positiivisia tapahtumia muita todennäköisemmin ja negatiivisia muita epätodennäköisemmin. Elämäntapahtumaoptimismin määrä myös korreloi positiivisesti skenaario-optimismin kanssa. Lomakkeella selvitettiin myös muiden muuttujien yhteyttä skenaarioarviointien mahdolliseen optimismivinoumaan. Yleisen optimismin tasoa selvitettiin valmiilla kyselyllä, mutta tämä ei korreloinut skenaario-optimismin kanssa. Ilmastonmuutosasenne puolestaan korreloi negatiivisesti skenaario-optimismin kanssa, eli ilmastonmuutokseen vakavasti suhtautuvat arvioivat skenaarioita pessimistisemmin. Vastaajien ikä, sukupuoli tai saimaannorppatiedon määrä ei vaikuttanut skenaarioarviointeihin. Optimismivinouman puute skenaarioarvioissa oli yllättävä tulos, jonka tarkkaa syytä ei voida sanoa täsmällisesti. Tämä voi johtua joko skenaariomenetelmän kognitiivisia vinoumia vähentävästä vaikutuksesta tai skenaarioiden aiheena olleen ilmastonmuutoksen herättämistä negatiivisista mielikuvista. Olisikin tarvetta tutkia aihetta lisää edustavammalla otoksella sekä tutkimusasetelmalla, joka erottelisi skenaariomenetelmän ja ilmastonmuutosaiheen vaikutukset toisistaan. Skenaarioiden käytön kannalta optimismivinouman puute voidaan kuitenkin nähdä hyvänä asiana.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a method that in recent years has gained the attention of researchers. In certain contexts, tDCS can be utilised in modulating brain function and cognitive performance, and it has been found to modulate symptoms and neural correlates of some pathologies. Due to differences in protocols between studies, the literature is inconclusive on the effects of tDCS on some brain areas and networks. In this study the effects of tDCS directed to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) on functional networks of the brain in resting state are examined. 36 healthy female subjects were divided into control and tDCS-groups of equal sizes. Functional networks were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in resting state before one stimulation session of 20 minutes with 2 mA current or sham stimulation, and after the session. Functional networks were identified with independent component analysis (ICA), which was performed on the set of images with both groups combined. The groups were then compared on a network level. The tDCS group showed increased functional connectivity in and around the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in language network compared to the sham group. Other networks identified by ICA that showed no statistically significant differences between groups were posterior and anterior default mode, dorsal attention, sensorimotor, orbitofrontal, left and right frontoparietal, medial and lateral visual network, basal ganglia and the cerebellum. The results of this study were partially in line with previous studies that have found increases in the functional connectivity of brain regions associated with reward processing. There is a need for systematic examination of the effects of different tDCS protocols on functional networks in future studies.

The pressing challenge of climate change and its uncertainties require effective communication to engage mitigation efforts. Data visualizations enable presenting complex data to layperson and professionals. People’s perception, however, seems to be affected by their motivations, and uncertainty in data. This study investigates the influence of prior beliefs and uncertainty representation on climate-aware people’s interpretation of climate data visualizations. In an online experiment, participants estimated the correlation of variables displayed in scatterplots. The plots were labelled either with meaningful or abstracted variables, and either included uncertainty representation or not. Participants also indicated how much they believed the meaningful variables to be correlated. When a correlation triggered their beliefs, participants estimated higher correlations than when they did not have beliefs about the displayed data. The representation of uncertainty alone did not influence the estimation performance. When participants had beliefs about a correlation and uncertainty was represented in the plot, participants’ estimation was higher than in the other conditions and the least accurate. The findings suggest that people’s interpretation was biased by their prior beliefs, especially in combination with uncertainty representation. This might be explained by prior beliefs guiding participant’s attention to features of the visualization supporting their views. This biased perception seems to affect their interpretation. Uncertainty representation might increase the bias by expanding the range of possible interpretations, potentially prompting people to rely on their prior beliefs more strongly.