Session 6 :: Studies to understand, explain or replicate
  • Repetitio: Cognitive sciences, cognitivism, cognitive blindness and the unicycle clown, cognitive principles and biases
  • Minilectio: Confirmation bias
  • Group work: "Digitizing literacy"
  • Initiatio to experiments of interest
  • Evaluatio
How to sign in for a specific course work
You sign in for a specific course work by bookmarking it in the Kastalia system.

1) enter the knot related to the specific experiment by clicking on its title below

2) log in if You are not logged in already

3) in section "Actions" click on "Bookmark"
Did You see a unicycling clown ?
We investigated the effects of divided attention during walking. Individuals were classified based on whether they were walking while talking on a cell phone, listening to an MP3 player, walking without any electronics or walking in a pair. In the first study, we found that cell phone users walked more slowly, changed directions more frequently, and were less likely to acknowledge other people than individuals in the other conditions. In the second study, we found that cell phone users were less likely to notice an unusual activity along their walking route (a unicycling clown). Cell phone usage may cause inattentional blindness even during a simple activity that should require few cognitive resources.
Confirmation bias
Wiki definition ::

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Some psychologists restrict the term 
confirmation bias to selective collection of evidence that supports what one already believes while ignoring or rejecting evidence that supports a different conclusion. Others apply the term more broadly to the tendency to preserve one's existing beliefs when searching for evidence, interpreting it, or recalling it from memory.



Can You please present some cases of confirmation bias from everyday life ?
What the Thinker thinks the Prover proves
Digitizing Literacy :: Reflections on haptics of writing
Writing is a complex cognitive process relying on intricate perceptual-sensorimotor combinations. The process and skill of writing is studied on several levels and in many disciplines, from neurophysiological research on the shaping of each letter to studies on stylistic and compositional features of authors and poets. In studies of writing and literacy overall, the role of the physically tangible writing device (pen on paper; computer mouse and keyboard; digital stylus pen and writing tablet; etc.) is rarely addressed. By and large, the (relatively young) field of writing research is dominated by cognitive approaches predominantly focusing on the visual component of the writing process, hence maintaining a separation between (visual) perception and motor action (e.g., haptics1). However, recent theoretical currents in psychology, phenomenology & philosophy of mind, and neuroscience – commonly referred to as “embodied cognition” – indicate that perception and motor action are closely connected and, indeed, reciprocally dependent. 
Quantitative :: Digital devices in the public space
The objective is to estimate the impact of digital media on human society in June 2019 (AE49).
What You'll need is:

1) Few print-outs of the Media-to-Human protocol (M2H-protocol) , c.f. below
2) Systematic approach

First ANOVA (n=2000)

> m2h=read.table("M2H_observations.csv",sep=",",header=TRUE)


 


> m2h_model=lm(OBSERVATIONS~GENDER*MEDIA*WOCHENTAG*OBSERVER,m2h)


> anova(m2h_model)


Analysis of Variance Table


 


Response: OBSERVATIONS


Df Sum Sq Mean Sq F value Pr(>F)


GENDER 1 0.9 0.88 0.0347 0.8523733


MEDIA 7 15653.3 2236.18 88.1365 < 2.2e-16 ***


WOCHENTAG 3 495.5 165.17 6.5099 0.0003290 ***


OBSERVER 4 1328.1 332.02 13.0862 2.123e-09 ***


GENDER:MEDIA 7 57.7 8.25 0.3250 0.9419604


GENDER:WOCHENTAG 3 15.4 5.14 0.2026 0.8945048


MEDIA:WOCHENTAG 21 1217.0 57.95 2.2841 0.0018619 **


GENDER:OBSERVER 4 20.0 5.01 0.1973 0.9395594


MEDIA:OBSERVER 28 1636.4 58.44 2.3034 0.0005379 ***


WOCHENTAG:OBSERVER 1 84.5 84.49 3.3302 0.0696387 .


GENDER:MEDIA:WOCHENTAG 21 172.8 8.23 0.3244 0.9980821


GENDER:MEDIA:OBSERVER 28 127.2 4.54 0.1790 0.9999992


GENDER:WOCHENTAG:OBSERVER 1 0.0 0.05 0.0018 0.9657824


MEDIA:WOCHENTAG:OBSERVER 7 150.1 21.44 0.8449 0.5514657


GENDER:MEDIA:WOCHENTAG:OBSERVER 7 60.1 8.58 0.3383 0.9355206


Residuals 184 4668.4 25.37


---


Signif. codes: 0 ‘***’ 0.001 ‘**’ 0.01 ‘*’ 0.05 ‘.’ 0.1 ‘ ’ 1

How to fill M2H protocol :: Digital devices in the public space

  1. Fill the header of the protocol before entering the transport.

  2. Systematically proceed from one end of transport to the other.

  3. Do not hurry, quality (truthfulness of data) is more important than quantity.

  4. Be discrete, smile, use Your peripheral vision.

  5. Be rigorous :: Do not log one subject more than once even if their state changes. Try not to exclude anyone.

  6. At every station, wait a while until people sit down. Record only sitting and standing people.

  7. Note down any unexpected event (either environmental or intrapersonal) on the other (blank) side of the paper.
  8. Prefer information about media usage instead of interaction/misc. information.

Pariticpants
Adam, Philip, Maja, Daniel, Aaron, Anna
Fisher Test 1
> m2h=matrix(c(37, 35, 51, 21),nrow=2)
> m2h
     [,1] [,2]
[1,]   37   51
[2,]   35   21
> fisher.test(m2h)
Fisher's Exact Test for Count Data
data:  m2h
p-value = 0.02586
alternative hypothesis: true odds ratio is not equal to 1
95 percent confidence interval:
 0.2061805 0.9127551

sample estimates:
odds ratio 
 0.4378763 
Anna
Hello, I will do this experiment (Anna)! :)
"Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity"
ABSTRACT Our smartphones enable—and encourage—constant connection to information, entertainment, and each other. They put the world at our fingertips, and rarely leave our sides. Although these devices have immense potential to improve welfare, their persistent presence may come at a cognitive cost. In this research, we test the “brain drain” hypothesis that the mere presence of one’s own smartphone may occupy limited-capacity cognitive resources, thereby leaving fewer resources available for other tasks and undercutting cognitive performance. Results from two experiments indicate that even when people are successful at maintaining sustained attention—as when avoiding the temptation to check their phones—the mere presence of these devices reduces available cognitive capacity. Moreover, these cognitive costs are highest for those highest in smartphone dependence. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of this smartphone-induced brain drain for consumer decision-making and consumer welfare.
Method
Presentation :: 2. Part
SMARTPHONE PRESENCE AND COGNITIVE CAPACITY (ALLOCATION OF ATTENTIONAL RESOURCES)

OVERVIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS

Experiment:: 01: Smartphone Salience Affects Avaliable Cognitive Capacity

Method

Results and Discussion

Participants
Ozcan, Vincent, Akif
OSPAN

To determine whether there is a general capacity for all working memory tasks, Turner and Engle (1989) developed a task called operation-word-spanor OSPAN. In this task, participants are asked to read and verify a simple math problem (such as "Is (4/2)-1=1 ?) and then read a word after the operation (such as SNOW). After a series of problems and words has been presented, the participants recall the words that followed each operation. The number of operation-word strings in a sequence is increased and decreased to measure the participant's operation span. Operation span measures predict verbal abilities and reading comprehension even though the subjects are solving mathematical problems. Engle and his colleagues have argued that this implies a general pool of resources that is used in every type of working memory situation.


Introduction
This study is about.....
Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time
Abstract
In two nationally representative surveys of U.S. adolescents in grades 8 through 12 (N = 506,820) and national statistics on suicide deaths for those ages 13 to 18, adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates increased between 2010 and 2015, especially among females. Adolescents who spent more time on new media (including social media and electronic devices such as smartphones) were more likely to report mental health issues, and adolescents who spent more time on nonscreen activities (in-person social interaction, sports/exercise, homework, print media, and attending religious services) were less likely. Since 2010, iGen adolescents have spent more time on new media screen activities and less time on nonscreen activities, which may account for the increases in depression and suicide. In contrast, cyclical economic factors such as unemployment and the Dow Jones Index were not linked to depressive symptoms or suicide rates when matched by year.
Participants
Hannah, Kohei
depression of younger generation
61184943_1961043577334067_3052247353902759936_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_eui2=AeFo3TDTq2KYg3lYkryWLTkAJDT1zXOrnckQQ3M-ScaR5RZ9cGlASItImTw8mKjxGZLz5ZvUkkmGwdWg3faGhx4dem4w64BaI63X5_SEoFOn8Q&_nc_ht=scontent-prg1-1.xx&oh=48276177d15a0eff790bcef3a1971143&oe=5D90F82B
Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire
abstract

Nomophobia is considered a modern age phobia introduced to our lives as a byproduct of the interaction between people and mobile information and communication technologies, especially smartphones. This study sought to contribute to the nomophobia research literature by identifying and describing the dimensions of nomophobia and developing a questionnaire to measure nomophobia. Consequently, this study adopted a two-phase, exploratory sequential mixed methods design. The first phase was a qualitative exploration of nomophobia through semi-structured interviews conducted with nine undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university in the U.S. As a result of the first phase, four dimensions of nomophobia were identified: not being able to communicate, losing connectedness, not being able to access information and giving up convenience. The qualitative findings from this initial exploration were then developed into a 20-item nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q). In the second phase, the NMP-Q was validated with a sample of 301 undergraduate students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure for the NMP-Q, corresponding to the dimensions of nomophobia. The NMP-Q was shown to produce valid and reliable scores; and thus, can be used to assess the severity of nomophobia
Problematic smartphone use and relations with negative affect, fear of missing out, and fear of negative and positive evaluation
ABSTRACT
For many individuals, excessive smartphone use interferes with everyday life. In the present study, we recruited a non-clinical sample of 296 participants for a cross-sectional survey of problematic smartphone use, social and non-social smartphone use, and psychopathology-related constructs including negative affect, fear of negative and positive evaluation, and fear of missing out (FoMO). Results demonstrated that FoMO was most strongly related to both problematic smartphone use and social smartphone use relative to negative affect and fears of negative and positive evaluation, and these relations held when controlling for age and gender. Furthermore, FoMO (cross-sectionally) mediated relations between both fear of negative and positive evaluation with both problematic and social smartphone use. Theoretical implications are considered with regard to developing problematic smartphone use.
Comfortably Numb Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others
ABSTRACT

Two studies tested the hypothesis that exposure to violent media reduces aid offered to people in pain. In Study 1, participants played a violent or nonviolent video game for 20 min. After game play, while completing a lengthy questionnaire, they heard a loud fight, in which one person was injured, outside the lab. Participants who played violent games took longer to help the injured victim, rated the fight as less serious, and were less likely to ‘‘hear’’ the fight in comparison to participants who played nonviolent games. In Study 2, violent- and nonviolentmovie attendees witnessed a young woman with an injured ankle struggle to pick up her crutches outside the theater either before or after the movie. Participants who had just watched a violent movie took longer to help than participants in the other three conditions. The findings from both studies suggest that violent media make people numb to the pain and suffering of others.
Qualitative :: Gestalt Therapy and the digital world
The goal is to sharpen Your awareness concerning the interaction between humans and machines.

Task 0) Here and now, I am observing a human using a digital device ...
Task 1) Here and now, I do not percieve anyone using a digital device...
Task 2) Here and now, I see a digital device being carried around by a human being...
Task 3) ...

Output: Self-observation protocol.
Program
Date Topic
12.4 Introduction
19.4 NO COURSE (Karfreitag)
26.4 How to read scientific articles
3.5 Google, Brain & co.
10.5 Cognitive sciences
17.5 Cognitive psychology
24.5 Abstracts
31.5 OPTIONAL COURSE (Christihimmelfahrt Brückentag)
7.6 Memetic theory
14.6 Theory of multiple intelligences
21.6 Developmental aspects
28.6 Socrates & Gestalt
5.7 Symposion
12.7 Summa Summarum
Experiments
Please choose one among following experiments on presentation/realisation of which You shall participate. 
Comfortably Numb Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others
ABSTRACT

Two studies tested the hypothesis that exposure to violent media reduces aid offered to people in pain. In Study 1, participants played a violent or nonviolent video game for 20 min. After game play, while completing a lengthy questionnaire, they heard a loud fight, in which one person was injured, outside the lab. Participants who played violent games took longer to help the injured victim, rated the fight as less serious, and were less likely to ‘‘hear’’ the fight in comparison to participants who played nonviolent games. In Study 2, violent- and nonviolentmovie attendees witnessed a young woman with an injured ankle struggle to pick up her crutches outside the theater either before or after the movie. Participants who had just watched a violent movie took longer to help than participants in the other three conditions. The findings from both studies suggest that violent media make people numb to the pain and suffering of others.
Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire
abstract

Nomophobia is considered a modern age phobia introduced to our lives as a byproduct of the interaction between people and mobile information and communication technologies, especially smartphones. This study sought to contribute to the nomophobia research literature by identifying and describing the dimensions of nomophobia and developing a questionnaire to measure nomophobia. Consequently, this study adopted a two-phase, exploratory sequential mixed methods design. The first phase was a qualitative exploration of nomophobia through semi-structured interviews conducted with nine undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university in the U.S. As a result of the first phase, four dimensions of nomophobia were identified: not being able to communicate, losing connectedness, not being able to access information and giving up convenience. The qualitative findings from this initial exploration were then developed into a 20-item nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q). In the second phase, the NMP-Q was validated with a sample of 301 undergraduate students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure for the NMP-Q, corresponding to the dimensions of nomophobia. The NMP-Q was shown to produce valid and reliable scores; and thus, can be used to assess the severity of nomophobia
Qualitative :: Gestalt Therapy and the digital world
The goal is to sharpen Your awareness concerning the interaction between humans and machines.

Task 0) Here and now, I am observing a human using a digital device ...
Task 1) Here and now, I do not percieve anyone using a digital device...
Task 2) Here and now, I see a digital device being carried around by a human being...
Task 3) ...

Output: Self-observation protocol.
Experiments
Please choose one among following experiments on presentation/realisation of which You shall participate. 
Referat structure :: IMRAD
Introduction

Method

Results

Discussion
Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time
Abstract
In two nationally representative surveys of U.S. adolescents in grades 8 through 12 (N = 506,820) and national statistics on suicide deaths for those ages 13 to 18, adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates increased between 2010 and 2015, especially among females. Adolescents who spent more time on new media (including social media and electronic devices such as smartphones) were more likely to report mental health issues, and adolescents who spent more time on nonscreen activities (in-person social interaction, sports/exercise, homework, print media, and attending religious services) were less likely. Since 2010, iGen adolescents have spent more time on new media screen activities and less time on nonscreen activities, which may account for the increases in depression and suicide. In contrast, cyclical economic factors such as unemployment and the Dow Jones Index were not linked to depressive symptoms or suicide rates when matched by year.
Quantitative :: Digital devices in the public space
The objective is to estimate the impact of digital media on human society in June 2019 (AE49).
What You'll need is:

1) Few print-outs of the Media-to-Human protocol (M2H-protocol) , c.f. below
2) Systematic approach

"Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity"
ABSTRACT Our smartphones enable—and encourage—constant connection to information, entertainment, and each other. They put the world at our fingertips, and rarely leave our sides. Although these devices have immense potential to improve welfare, their persistent presence may come at a cognitive cost. In this research, we test the “brain drain” hypothesis that the mere presence of one’s own smartphone may occupy limited-capacity cognitive resources, thereby leaving fewer resources available for other tasks and undercutting cognitive performance. Results from two experiments indicate that even when people are successful at maintaining sustained attention—as when avoiding the temptation to check their phones—the mere presence of these devices reduces available cognitive capacity. Moreover, these cognitive costs are highest for those highest in smartphone dependence. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of this smartphone-induced brain drain for consumer decision-making and consumer welfare.
Problematic smartphone use and relations with negative affect, fear of missing out, and fear of negative and positive evaluation
ABSTRACT
For many individuals, excessive smartphone use interferes with everyday life. In the present study, we recruited a non-clinical sample of 296 participants for a cross-sectional survey of problematic smartphone use, social and non-social smartphone use, and psychopathology-related constructs including negative affect, fear of negative and positive evaluation, and fear of missing out (FoMO). Results demonstrated that FoMO was most strongly related to both problematic smartphone use and social smartphone use relative to negative affect and fears of negative and positive evaluation, and these relations held when controlling for age and gender. Furthermore, FoMO (cross-sectionally) mediated relations between both fear of negative and positive evaluation with both problematic and social smartphone use. Theoretical implications are considered with regard to developing problematic smartphone use.

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