Uncovering the course of analogical mapping using eye tracking.

Analogical mapping - the core component of analogical reasoning - consists of establishing the relational structure shared by two analogous situations and inferring the missing elements in a less familiar situation from a more familiar one. Several existing models of analogy predicted that the complete relational structure can be considered in parallel. Other models postulated that mapping can be less or more incremental - it can access only a relatively small part of the structure, and needs to move to its other parts in steps in order to construct the final relational correspondence.

Socially Induced Negative Emotions Elicit Neural Activity in the Mentalizing Network in a Subsequent Inhibitory Task.

Despite the growing emphasis on embedding interactive social paradigms in the field of cognitive and affective neuroscience, the impact of socially induced emotions on cognition remains widely unknown. The aim of the present study was to fill this gap by testing whether facial stimuli whose emotional valence was acquired through social learning in an economic trust game may influence cognitive performance in a subsequent stop-signal task. The study was designed as a conceptual replication of previous event-related potential experiments, extending them to more naturalistic settings.

Socially induced negative affective knowledge modulates early face perception but not gaze cueing of attention.

Prior affective and social knowledge about other individuals has been shown to modulate perception of their faces and gaze-related attentional processes. However, it remains unclear whether emotionally charged knowledge acquired through interactive social learning also modulates face processing and attentional control. Thus, the aim of this study was to test whether affective knowledge induced through social interactions in a naturalistic exchange game can influence early stages of face processing and attentional shifts in a subsequent gaze-cueing task.

Post-error Brain Activity Correlates With Incidental Memory for Negative Words.

The present study had three main objectives. First, we aimed to evaluate whether short-duration affective states induced by negative and positive words can lead to increased error-monitoring activity relative to a neutral task condition. Second, we intended to determine whether such an enhancement is limited to words of specific valence or is a general response to arousing material.

ERP correlates of the conflict level in the multi-response Stroop task.

This EEG study (N=33) examined event-related potentials associated with conflict between activated responses in the Stroop task, in order to examine the conflict monitoring theory of cognitive control, which predicts the strength of exerted control to be proportional to the detected level of conflict. However, existing research manipulated the sole presence/absence of conflict, but not its exact level. Here, by using a modified color-word task that allowed multiple correct responses for target colors, as well as multiple incorrect responses for distractor words, we manipulated the level of conflict among activated responses (and not only its presence).