The long-lasting legacy of early experimental studies in visual mental imagery.

Visual mental imagery is a core topic of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Several early behavioral contributions were published in the , and they continue to influence the field despite the advent of new technologies and statistical models that are used in contemporary research on mental imagery. Future research will lead to new discoveries showing a broader importance of mental imagery, ranging from consciousness, problem-solving, expectations, perception, and reality monitoring.

Individualized Cognitive Effort to Failure Does Not Impact Subsequent Strenuous Physical Performance.

Introduction: The relationship between cognitive tasks and physical performance has garnered significant attention, with evidence suggesting that cognitive effort before exercise may impair physical performance. However, recent findings challenge the robustness of this effect, necessitating a reassessment of the mechanisms linking cognitive load to physical performance. This study introduces a novel approach to address methodological limitations, emphasizing individualized cognitive task difficulty and duration.

Pupil old/new effect as an objective measure of recognition memory: a meta-analysis of 17 eye-tracking experiments.

Recognition memory, the ability to recognise previously encountered information, correlates with pupil diameter changes during the recognition period. This physiological response, known as the pupil old/new effect, generally reflects the variation in pupil dilation when encountering previously studied (old) stimuli compared to new stimuli. To develop a more precise understanding of the pupil old/new effect, we conducted a meta-analysis of 17 eye-tracking experiments (across 12 articles spanning from 2008 to 2023) involving 560 healthy adults with a mean age of 22.

Time in suspense: investigating boredom and related states in a virtual waiting room.

We studied the role of time in the experience of boredom and its relationship with various psychological states using virtual reality. Sixty-six participants visited nine virtual waiting rooms and evaluated their perception of time and psychological experiences, including boredom, exhaustion, restlessness, amotivation, frustration, anger, unhappiness, spontaneous and deliberate mind-wandering, fantasy, and absorption. Results confirmed the relationship between boredom and time perception, showing that the higher the levels of boredom, the slower time seems to pass.

Drawing as an efficient encoding tool in younger but not always older adults: The case of associative memory.

Episodic memory strongly declines in healthy aging, at least partly because of reduced abilities to create and remember associations (associative memory) and to use efficient memory strategies. Several studies have shown that drawing the to-be-remembered material is a reliable encoding tool to enhance memory of individual items (item memory) because it simultaneously integrates elaborative, pictorial, and motoric processes. These processes in isolation can enhance associative memory in older adults.

Keeping track of reality: embedding visual memory in natural behaviour.

Since immersive virtual reality (IVR) emerged as a research method in the 1980s, the focus has been on the similarities between IVR and actual reality. In this vein, it has been suggested that IVR methodology might fill the gap between laboratory studies and real life. IVR allows for high internal validity (i.

In sight, out of mind? Disengagement at encoding gradually reduces recall of location.

Disengaging from the external world-a phenomenon referred to as mind wandering-is a common experience that has been shown to be associated with detriments in cognitive performance across a large range of tasks. In the current web-based study, we used a continuous delayed estimation paradigm to investigate the impact of task disengagement at encoding on subsequent recall of location. Task disengagement was assessed with thought probes on a dichotomous (off- vs.

Reinstating location improves mnemonic access but not fidelity of visual mental representations.

In a virtual reality environment combined with a continuous delayed estimation paradigm, we investigated how manipulation of location at recall (i.e., corresponding vs.

Imagery-related eye movements in 3D space depend on individual differences in visual object imagery.

During recall of visual information people tend to move their eyes even though there is nothing to see. Previous studies indicated that such eye movements are related to the spatial location of previously seen items on 2D screens, but they also showed that eye movement behavior varies significantly across individuals. The reason for these differences remains unclear.

Early is left and up: Saccadic responses reveal horizontal and vertical spatial associations of serial order in working memory.

Maintaining serial order in working memory is crucial for cognition. Recent theories propose that serial information is achieved by positional coding of items on a spatial frame of reference. In line with this, an early-left and late-right spatial-positional association of response code (SPoARC) effect has been established.

If-then planning, self-control, and boredom as predictors of adherence to social distancing guidelines: Evidence from a two-wave longitudinal study with a behavioral intervention.

In the wake of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), social distancing is instrumental for containing the pandemic. To maximize its effectiveness, it is paramount to investigate psychological factors that predict adherence to social distancing guidelines and examine corresponding interventions. We focused on individual differences in if-then planning, self-control, and boredom, and tested an intervention based on if-then planning.

Pictorial low-level features in mental images: evidence from eye fixations.

It is known that eye movements during object imagery reflect areas visited during encoding. But will eye movements also reflect pictorial low-level features of imagined stimuli? In this paper, three experiments are reported in which we investigate whether low-level properties of mental images elicit specific eye movements. Based on the conceptualization of mental images as depictive representations, we expected low-level visual features to influence eye fixations during mental imagery, in the absence of a visual input.

A Primer on the Role of Boredom in Self-Controlled Sports and Exercise Behavior.

Self-control is critical for successful participation and performance in sports and therefore has attracted considerable research interest. Yet, knowledge about self-control remains surprisingly incomplete and inconsistent. Here, we draw attention to boredom as an experience that likely plays an important role in sports and exercise (e.

High Trait Self-Control and Low Boredom Proneness Help COVID-19 Homeschoolers.

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) schools around the world have been closed to protect against the spread of coronavirus. In several countries, homeschooling has been introduced to replace classroom schooling. With a focus on individual differences, the present study examined 138 schoolers (age range = 6 to 21 years) regarding their self-control and boredom proneness.

The advantage of distributed practice in a blended learning setting.

Unlabelled: Ongoing digital transformations facilitate the conduct of online courses and distance learning. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the role of learners' personalities and behaviors in their academic success (exam scores) in a blended learning setting (combination of distance learning and face-to-face learning). Next to individual differences in several variables (including intelligence), participants' ( = 62) learning time and learning motivation over 14 weeks (one term) using questionnaires for one learning module at the Swiss Distance University Institute was measured.

The prioritization of visuo-spatial associations during mental imagery.

While previous research has shown that during mental imagery participants look back to areas visited during encoding it is unclear what happens when information presented during encoding is incongruent. To investigate this research question, we presented 30 participants with incongruent audio-visual associations (e.g.

Does a smartphone on the desk drain our brain? No evidence of cognitive costs due to smartphone presence in a short-term and prospective memory task.

It has recently been shown that the mere presence of one's own smartphone on the desk impairs working memory performance. The aim of this study was to follow up on this important finding by assessing the effect of smartphone presence (present on the desk vs. absent from the desk) on different memory functions (short-term memory and prospective memory), and by further examining the moderating role of individual differences in smartphone dependency and impulsiveness.

Database of virtual objects to be used in psychological research.

Although many visual stimulus databases exist, to our knowledge, none includes 3D virtual objects, that can directly be used in virtual reality (VR). We present 121 objects that have been developed for scientific purposes. The objects were built in Maya, and their textures were created in Substance Painter.

High Boredom Proneness and Low Trait Self-Control Impair Adherence to Social Distancing Guidelines during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Social distancing during the coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is crucial to reduce the spread of the virus. However, its effectiveness hinges on adherence by individuals who face substantial burdens from the required behavioral restrictions. Here, we investigate sources of individual variation in adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Bored Into Depletion? Toward a Tentative Integration of Perceived Self-Control Exertion and Boredom as Guiding Signals for Goal-Directed Behavior.

During the past two decades, self-control research has been dominated by the strength model of self-control, which is built on the premise that the capacity for self-control is a limited global resource that can become temporarily depleted, resulting in a state called ego depletion. The foundations of ego depletion have recently been questioned. Thus, although self-control is among the most researched psychological concepts with high societal relevance, an inconsistent body of literature limits our understanding of how self-control operates.

A Personality Trait-Based Network of Boredom, Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind-Wandering.

This article reports the translation into German and validation of two self-report measures of mind-wandering and boredom (the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind-Wandering Scales and the Short Boredom Proneness Scale). Confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the original conceptualization of the constructs. To evaluate measurement invariance across samples, data were collected in a German-speaking sample ( = 418) and an English-speaking sample ( = 364).

Vertical Head Movements Influence Memory Performance for Words With Emotional Content.

Numerous studies have found an association between valence and the vertical dimension of space (good-up, bad-down). This association has also been linked to sensorimotor experiences (e.g.

Testing the validity of the attention control video: An eye-tracking approach of the ego depletion effect.

The attention control video has been frequently applied to test the ego depletion effect. However, its validity has never been tested, a shortcoming we address in this preregistered study. In the first task, self-control strength was temporarily depleted in the depletion condition (n = 56) but remained intact in the control condition (n = 56).

On the link between phenomenal causality and personality dominance.

The present study investigated whether personality dominance is related to phenomenal causality. Recently, renewed attention has been given to dispositional theories, suggesting that the causal impression arises because people interpret collisions in terms of antagonistic action roles. Here, we examined the relation between personality dominance and the judgment of causality of ambiguous patterns of motion.

The Fantasy Questionnaire: A Measure to Assess Creative and Imaginative Fantasy.

This article reports the construction and validation of a comprehensive self-report measure of fantasy. Unlike previous measures of fantasy, which focus on psychopathology, we conceive fantasy as a trait with positive connotation. Principal component analysis (N = 318) and confirmatory factor analyses (N = 345) were conducted using 2 sociodemographically diverse samples.