Class Exercise

• On the following slide you will see an array of images (an image collage). Please take the following 90 seconds to identify the image that you perceive to have the highest image (digital quality) resolution. Keep that Image in mind until I call upon you.

On a blank piece of paper briefly describe the image that you

identified as having the highest image quality.

• You will now be presented with a series of slides with 4 images on each slide. One of the images may have been in the initial image collage. I want you to indentify which image you have already seen.

• Write down the slide number, and record your answer (A,B,C, or D) for each of the following slides:

1. Which Picture Did you See?

• A B

• C D

2. Which Picture Did you See?

• A B

• C D

3. Which Picture Did you See?A B

C D

4. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

5. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

6. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

7. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

8. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

9. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

10.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

11.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

12.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

13.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

14.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

15.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

16. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

17.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

18.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

19. Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

20.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

21.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

22.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

23.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

24.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

25.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

26.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

27.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

28.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

29.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

30.Which Picture Did you See?

31.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

32.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

33.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

34.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

35.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

36.Which Picture Did you See?

37.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

38.Which Picture Did you See?

A B

C D

Check your answers…Be Honest!

16.B17.D18.A19.B20.C21.A22.B23.C24.D25.B26.C27.A28.A29.B30.C

31.A32.B33.C34.A35.C36.A37.D38.B

1. D2. C3. D4. A5. C6. B7. A8. A9. C10. D11. B12. A13. C14. A15. D

“Dual Process Theory” ( a partial integration of the Cannon-Bard theory and appraisal

theories)

Dual Process Theory• Two primary pathways from the thalamus mediate

the processing of cognition, emotional valence and behavioral response.

• The thalamus projects sensory information to the Amygdala first ( fast pathway).

• The thalamus also projects information to the cerebral cortices where deliberate/rationale information processing occurs ( slow pathway) and intentional/conscious responses may be produced.

Dual Process• The Amygdala initiates fast

(automatic/unconscious?) “affective” responses through efferent pathways to the hypothalamus and other lower brain regions.

• The Amygdala also relays info to the frontal lobes where deliberate response processing may be influenced unconsciously ( cognitive bias?)

Dual Process Theories

Cognitive Bias?

• Underlying motivations Bias cognitive processes.

• appear to exist and influence a broad range of cognitive functions from attention, memory and perceptual interpretations (e.g., stereotypes), to decision making and behavioral responses (Bargh& Chartrand, 1999).

cognitive bias

automatic, effortless, relatively fast, independent from consciousness and intention

Reber, 1993; Remillard and Clark, 2001; Hasher & Zacks, 1979; Schneider, Dumais, & Shiffrin, 1984; Sherman, Gawronski, Gonsalkorale, Hugenberg, Allen and Groom, 2008; but see Okon-Singer, Hadas, Tzelgov, Joseph, Henik, Avishai, 2007.

I

Cog bias

• Major sources of evidence support this theory (see MacCleod, 2004 for partial review).

• Typically studied through implicit test procedures such as the :

• Modified (emotional) Stroop test• …many other test procedures have been used

The Stroop Test procedure:

• Subjects required to respond to each stimuli among a long list of stimuli (typically word stimuli) as rapidly as possible based on the color of the words’ font color. There are a number of variations but in a simple representation of this task subjects may be asked to press one button if a word is presented with a blue font and a different button if the word has a red font.

• Most of the stimuli have relatively neutral motivational valence, but some of the stimuli are intended to be motivationally salient.

• Eg…

• DICTIONARY

• Subject presses the “1” key as fast as possible

• MURDER

• Subject presses the “3” key as fast as possible

Interpretation of Modified Stroop RTs..

• Though the task instructions are to ignore the word and respond only to the color,

• Reliable differences in RT are thought to reflect the relative attention-grabbing power of the word meaning that are processed Automatically.

Such tests have revealed reliable differences in RT for stimuli that relate to

inferred motivational states across samples of people with known motivational

problems:

– Cognitive Bias has been indicated in subjects with clinically diagnosed

• Depression• Anxiety• Drug dependence• Eating disorders studies….• And for subjects with other obvious motivational tendencies

such as inmates incarcerated for violent offenses• etc

– Not as well studied in “normal populations”