Emotional experiences of service robots' anthropomorphic appearance: a multimodal measurement method

Anthropomorphic appearance is a key factor to affect users' attitudes and emotions. This research aimed to measure emotional experience caused by robots' anthropomorphic appearance with three levels - high, moderate, and low - using multimodal measurement. Fifty participants' physiological and eye-tracker data were recorded synchronously while they observed robot images that were displayed in random order. Afterward, the participants reported subjective emotional experiences and attitudes towards those robots. The results showed that the images of the moderately anthropomorphic service robots induced higher pleasure and arousal ratings, and yielded significantly larger pupil diameter and faster saccade velocity, than did the low or high robots. Moreover, participants' facial electromyography, skin conductance, and heart-rate responses were higher when observing moderately anthropomorphic service robots. An implication of the research is that service robots' appearance should be designed to be moderately anthropomorphic; too many human-like features or machine-like features may disturb users' positive emotions and attitudes.Practitioner Summary: This research aimed to measure emotional experience caused by three types of anthropomorphic service robots using a multimodal measurement experiment. The results showed that moderately anthropomorphic service robots evoked more positive emotion than high and low anthropomorphic robots. Too many human-like features or machine-like features may disturb users' positive emotions.

How the black hole illusion environment affects operational performance at different flight phases in aviation

The black hole illusion (BHI) is a subtype of spatial disorientation that can result in fatal consequences in aviation. Research on the BHI has generally focused on altitude deviation, and few studies have examined the effect across different flight phases. In a simulation-based experiment, 18 participants performed 12 simulated approach and landing tasks in normal and BHI environments. Flight performance was analyzed with 14 flight parameters and was compared across five points and three phases, which were referenced from a National Transportation Safety Board report and other previous studies. Results showed that multiple flight parameters were significantly impaired and that their influences varied from the initial approach to the final touchdown. In the BHI environment, participants tended to descend aggressively during the approach phase and flew a lower but similar glidepath during the last approach phase. They might have realized the abnormal situation induced by the BHI but usually were unable to recover from the dangerous maneuver in time. Additionally, the result of glide path error, one of the most commonly used variables in previous BHI research, was only significant during the last approach phase. Flight stability was also impaired in the BHI environment. This is the first study to systematically analyze the BHI effects on multiple flight parameters at different flight phases. The use of this experimental paradigm could facilitate future research to evaluate and prevent the BHI in a more comprehensive way.

Testing the saliency-based account of phasic alertness

As an essential component of the human attention system, the effect of phasic alertness refers to the change of performance with the presence of a preceding warning signal. Weinbach and Henik (Cognition, 133 (2), 414-419, 2014) argued that phasic alertness is an adaptive mechanism that diverts attention to salient events. This mechanism enhances selective attention when the critical event is more salient than others. When selective attention to less salient details is required, phasic alertness can lead to more interference from task-irrelevant information. The experiment on which this saliency-based account of phasic alertness is based has not been replicated. In two experiments, the present study attempted to replicate the alertness-related findings of Weinbach and Henik. Although we used a similar design, the results did not reveal evidence for an interaction between phasic alertness and response congruency in the global/local processing task. Our results do not support the saliency-based account of phasic alertness. We argue that more systematic investigation is needed for this phasic alertness account.

Vehicle crash simulations for safety: Introduction of connected and automated vehicles on the roadways

Traffic accidents are one main cause of human fatalities in modern society. With the fast development of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), there comes both challenges and opportunities in improving traffic safety on the roads. While on-road tests are limited due to their high cost and hardware requirements, simulation has been widely used to study traffic safety. To make the simulation as realistic as possible, real-world crash data such as crash reports could be leveraged in the creation of the simulation. In addition, to enable such simulations to capture the complexity of traffic, especially when both CAVs and human-driven vehicles co-exist on the road, careful consideration needs to be given to the depiction of human behaviors and control algorithms of CAVs and their interactions. In this paper, the authors reviewed literature that is closely related to crash analysis based on crash reports and to simulation of mixed traffic when CAVs and human-driven vehicles co-exist, for studying traffic safety. Three main aspects are examined based on our literature review: data source, simulation methods, and human factors. It was found that there is an abundance of research in the respective areas, namely, crash report analysis, crash simulation studies (including vehicle simulation, traffic simulation, and driving simulation), and human factors. However, there is a lack of integration between them. Future research is recommended to integrate and leverage different state-of-the-art transportation-related technologies to contribute to road safety by developing an all-in-one-step crash analysis system.

Age is more than just a number: The relationship among age, non-chronological age factors, self-perceived driving abilities, and autonomous vehicle acceptance

Globally, adults aged 65 and older are a rapidly-growing population. Aging is associated with declines in perceptual, cognitive, and physical abilities, which often creates challenges in completing daily activities, such as driving. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) promise to provide older adults one way to maintain their mobility and independence. However, recent surveys of AV acceptance suggest that older adults have a lower AV acceptance compared to younger generations. One challenge is that most of these assessments have not accounted for the various non-chronological age factors that contribute to how older adults perceive their own driving skills and the utility of AVs. To fill this research gap, this study investigated the effects of non-chronological age factors and rated self-perceived driving abilities on AV acceptance across three age groups. An online survey was conducted using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), for which 438 valid responses were received. Respondents were categorized into a younger (18-40 years), middle-aged (41-64 years), and older (65-79 years) adult age group. Results showed that drivers of a younger age, with higher educational attainment, who rated themselves to have higher social support, and who have lower rated self-perceived driving abilities, report being more willing to accept AVs. Findings from this work can help to inform models of AV technology acceptance and guide in the development of marketing strategies to promote knowledge of AVs.

What I Say Means What I Do: Risk Concerns and Mobile Application-Selection Behaviors

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to examine the relation between users' reported risk concerns and their choice behaviors in a mobile application (app) selection task.

BACKGROUND

Human users are typically regarded as the weakest link in cybersecurity and privacy protection; however, it is possible to leverage the users' predilections to increase security. There have been mixed results on the relation between users' self-reported privacy concerns and their behaviors.

METHOD

In three experiments, the timing of self-reported risk concerns was either a few weeks before the app-selection task (pre-screen), immediately before it (pre-task), or immediately after it (post-task). We also varied the availability and placement of clear definitions and quizzes to ensure users' understanding of the risk categories.

RESULTS

The post-task report significantly predicted the app-selection behaviors, consistent with prior findings. The pre-screen report was largely inconsistent with the reports implemented around the time of the task, indicating that participants' risk concerns may not be stable over time and across contexts. Moreover, the pre-task report strongly predicted the app-selection behaviors only when elaborated definitions and quizzes were placed before the pre-task question, indicating the importance of clear understanding of the risk categories.

CONCLUSION

Self-reported risk concerns may be unstable over time and across contexts. When explained with clear definitions, self-reported risk concerns obtained immediately before or after the app-selection task significantly predicted app-selection behaviors.

APPLICATION

We discuss implications for including personalized risk concerns during app selection that enable comparison of alternative mobile apps.

Family Relationships Under Work From Home: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Processes

Work-from-home (WFH) influences both work and life, and further impacts family relationships. The current study explored the impacts of WFH on family relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic and identified effective adaptive processes for maintaining family relationships under WFH. Using the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model, the study examined the roles of adaptive processes (spending time with family members and balancing work and life) and demographic differences (gender, age, marital status, and education level) in the relation between WFH and family relationships. Path analysis results based on an online survey (N = 150) suggested that, overall, WFH improved family relationships through proper adaptive processes. WFH had a positive relation to time spent with family members, and this relation was especially salient for workers with lower education levels. While there was no statistically significant overall relation between WFH and work-life balance, older workers tended to engage in increased work-life balance during WFH. Both adaptive processes were positively related to family relationship quality. The findings advance the understanding of family relationships and WFH and provide practical recommendations to enhance family relationships under WFH.

Tribute to E. J. Capaldi: Celebration of a Psychological Scientist

E. J. (John) Capaldi (1928–2020) made numerous contributions to experimental psychology in his long career at the University of Texas at Austin and Purdue University. He was a pioneer in the area of animal learning and cognition, known for his sequential theory of partial reinforcement extinction effects. His research in this area and in memory and counting phenomena was conducted for the most part with rats running in straight alley mazes under various sequences of trial outcomes (e.g., reward, nonreward, variations in reward size). John's other interests included the sequential theory applied to Pavlovian conditioning, evolutionary theory, and psychology of science. More generally, John was a scientist to the core who served as a role model to those who knew him. His career centered on the values of science and rigorous critical thinking based in empirical data, coupled with a curiosity and openness to different and new ideas in psychology.

Examination of a Response–Effect Compatibility Task With Continuous Mouse Movements: Free- Versus Forced-Choice Tasks and Sequential Modulations

According to ideomotor theory, we select actions by recalling and anticipating their sensory consequences, that is, their action effects. Compelling evidence for this theory comes from response–effect compatibility (REC) experiments, in which a response produces an effect with which it is either compatible or incompatible. For example, pressing a left/right response key is faster if it is predictably followed by an action effect on the same, compatible side compared with the other, incompatible side, even though the effect itself appears only after response time is measured. Recent studies investigated this effect with continuous responses (i.e., computer mouse movements) and reported an REC effect in a forced-choice but not in a free-choice task. From the keypressing literature, the opposite result pattern or no differences would have been expected. To clarify this issue, we report 3 experiments with mouse movement responses. Experiment 1 used a simpler scenario than in prior studies and found a similar result: The REC effect was evident in a forced- but not in a free-choice task. Also, sequential modulations of the REC effect were exploratorily analyzed and replicated with higher power in Experiment 2. However, Experiment 3 demonstrated that at least part of the REC effect with mouse movements can be attributed to stimulus–response compatibility (SRC), with a much smaller compatibility effect evident with a procedure for which SRC was reduced. We conclude that a sequentially modulated compatibility effect can be observed with mouse movements, but previous studies may have underestimated the contribution from SRC. The results are also discussed in terms of why the compatibility effect was observed in forced- but not free-choice tasks with mouse movement responses.

Practice and transfer with mappings of spoon tip and handle to keypress responses

When orientation of a horizontal spoon image varies to the left or right, instructions can map left and right keypresses to the tip or handle location. We conducted Experiment 1 to determine whether practice with an incompatible mapping of the salient tip transfers to a test session in which the relevant part and/or mapping are changed. Participants performed 80 practice trials with tip-incompatible mapping, followed by 80 test trials with tip-compatible, tip-incompatible, handle-compatible, or handle-incompatible mapping. Performance improved across 20-trial blocks in the practice session. In the test session, responses were 65 ms faster with tip-compatible than tip-incompatible mapping but 31 ms faster with handle-incompatible than handle-compatible mapping. This latter result, and verbal reports, indicate that some participants adopted a strategy of responding compatibly to the salient tip even though instructed to respond to the handle. Experiment 2 focused on whether participants with handle-incompatible mapping instructions would adopt the tip-compatible strategy spontaneously or after receiving a hint: 77% of participants reported adopting the tip-compatible strategy in Session 1, showing that prior experience responding to the tip is not necessary and 9% of participants did not report using that strategy in Session 1 but reported changing to it in Session 2 after receiving the hint. Their responses in Session 2 were slower than those who used the strategy throughout, but this difference was minimal in the last two trial blocks. Compatible mapping of the salient spoon tip to keypresses dominated performance over prior practice with incompatible tip mapping and instructions with incompatible handle mapping.

Effects of a neutral warning signal on spatial two-choice reactions

Posner et al. reported that, at short fixed foreperiods, a neutral warning tone reduced reaction times (RTs) in a visual two-choice task while increasing error rates for both spatially compatible and incompatible stimulus-response mappings. Consequently, they concluded that alertness induced by the warning does not affect the efficiency of information processing but the setting of a response criterion. We conducted two experiments to determine the conditions under which the trade-off occurs. In Experiment 1, participants performed the same two-choice task as in Posner et al.'s study without RT feedback. Results showed that the warning tone speeded responses with no evidence of speed/accuracy trade-off. In Experiment 2, RT feedback was provided after each response, and a speed/accuracy trade-off was found for the 50-ms foreperiod. However, better information-processing efficiency was evident for the 200-ms foreperiod. We conclude that the foreperiod effect of a 50-ms foreperiod is a result of response criterion adjustment and that providing trial-level RT feedback is critical for replicating this pattern. However, fixed foreperiods of 200 ms or longer benefit both speed and accuracy, implying a more controlled preparation component that improves response efficiency.

The Underlying neural mechanisms of interpersonal situations on collaborative ability: A hyperscanning study using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

The collaborative ability to coordinate an individual with others is critical to performance of joint actions. Prior studies found that different types of interpersonal situations have more or less impact on the collaborative ability of joint actions, but the results are controversial. To clarify the influence of interpersonal situations on collaborative ability, we adopted the joint Simon task, a choice-reaction task that two people perform together. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to study the neural mechanisms of interpersonal situations on collaborative ability and task performance under payoffs that fostered competition or cooperation. The fNIRS results showed that significant inter-brain neural synchronization (INS) occurred in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL) for both situations. Moreover, for the competition situation, the pairs also shown a significant INS in the right IPL. These results imply that the bilateral IPL is involved in cooperation and competition due to involvement of common concern and understanding of intention. The right IPL may be more crucial for competition because of the psychological resources involved in distinguishing self and others. Eventually, the INS in competition was better than in the other situations, correlating with higher performance of the joint task as well.

Sensor-based indicators of performance changes between sessions during robotic surgery training

Training of surgeons is essential for safe and effective use of robotic surgery, yet current assessment tools for learning progression are limited. The objective of this study was to measure changes in trainees' cognitive and behavioral states as they progressed in a robotic surgeon training curriculum at a medical institution. Seven surgical trainees in urology who had no formal robotic training experience participated in the simulation curriculum. They performed 12 robotic skills exercises with varying levels of difficulty repetitively in separate sessions. EEG (electroencephalogram) activity and eye movements were measured throughout to calculate three metrics: engagement index (indicator of task engagement), pupil diameter (indicator of mental workload) and gaze entropy (indicator of randomness in gaze pattern). Performance scores (completion of task goals) and mental workload ratings (NASA-Task Load Index) were collected after each exercise. Changes in performance scores between training sessions were calculated. Analysis of variance, repeated measures correlation, and machine learning classification were used to diagnose how cognitive and behavioral states associate with performance increases or decreases between sessions. The changes in performance were correlated with changes in engagement index (rrm=-.25,p<.001) and gaze entropy (rrm=-.37,p<.001). Changes in cognitive and behavioral states were able to predict training outcomes with 72.5% accuracy. Findings suggest that cognitive and behavioral metrics correlate with changes in performance between sessions. These measures can complement current feedback tools used by medical educators and learners for skills assessment in robotic surgery training.

A User-centered Decision-aiding Process for Selecting Power Analysis Tools

A priori power analyses have become increasingly popular in scientific communities, but the practice has not been widely discussed by HFE researchers. Given the complexity of conducting such analyses, software tools are essential. We review the emergence and current state of power analysis software tools, and use the concept of User-Centered Design as an analytical lens for examining the relationship between researchers' needs and power analysis tools' characteristics. Centering on users' wants and needs, we propose a decision-aiding process to assist researchers in identifying appropriate power analysis tools. This process consists of five user-centered considerations - two functional criteria (software input; software output) and three usability heuristics (learnability; ease of use; accessibility) - which are organized into a workflow. These criteria and heuristics are translated into questions that researchers should go through during the decision process. We illustrate use of the decision-aiding process with three example scenarios and lay out implications for researchers.

Visual salience of 3D and 2D spoons determines S-R mapping and flanker effects

This study tested the hypothesis that affordances for grasping with the corresponding hand are activated more strongly by three-dimensional (3D) real objects than by two-dimensional (2D) pictures of the objects. In Experiment 1, participants made left and right keypress responses to the handle or functional end (tip) of an eating utensil using compatible and incompatible mappings. In one session, stimuli were spoons mounted horizontally on a blackboard with the sides to which the handle and tip pointed varying randomly. In the other, stimuli were pictures of spoons displayed on a black computer screen. Three-dimensional and 2D sessions showed a similar benefit for compatible mapping when the tip was relevant and a small cost of compatible mapping when the handle was relevant. Experiment 2 used a flanker task in which participants responded compatibly to the location of the handle or the tip, and spoons located above and below the target spoon could have congruent or incongruent orientations. The difference between 3D and 2D displays was not obtained in the flanker effect for reaction time. There was little evidence that 3D objects activate grasping affordances that 2D images do not. Instead, we argue that visual salience of the tip is the critical factor determining these correspondence effects.

Emotion-induced attentional bias: does it modulate the spatial Simon effect?

Schlaghecken, F., Blagrove, E., Mantantzis, K., Maylor, E. A., & Watson, D. G. [(2017). Look on the bright side: Positivity bias modulates interference effects in the Simon task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(6), 763-770] found larger spatial Simon effects for happy than sad faces. Unexpectedly, this enhancement was also observed for nonvalenced objects requiring the same response as happy faces. We examined whether the increase of the spatial Simon effect is location- or object-based. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants pressed a left/right key in response to a happy/sad face or a left-/right-pointing arrow. These stimuli appeared on the left/right side of fixation, with location being task-irrelevant. Consistent with Schlaghecken et al., the spatial Simon effect was numerically larger for happy than sad faces regardless of whether faces and arrows were presented in different blocks (Experiment 1) or intermixed within blocks (Experiment 2). However, the spatial Simon effect for arrows was not modulated by the faces' emotional valence. Similar findings were observed with pointing hands in Experiment 3. Our results imply that attentional bias is associated with specific objects (e.g. faces) not locations.

How psychologists help solve real-world problems in multidisciplinary research teams: Introduction to the special issue

Real-world problems are not confined to a single discipline. Multidisciplinary team research combines the methods and theories from different disciplines to achieve a common goal. It fosters collaboration among researchers with different expertise, which can lead to novel solutions and new discoveries that could not be achieved otherwise. This special issue of the American Psychologist consists of 10 articles that cover a range of research areas within the discipline of psychology. The authors of the articles describe the content of the research conducted by their teams and the ways in which the teams operate. In this introductory article, an overview of the topics covered in the special issue is provided. The overview shows that most areas of psychology are involved in the various multidisciplinary projects and emphasizes the fact that psychologists have many skills that put them in a good position for collaborating with specialists from other disciplines. This introduction to the special issue also highlights key points from the lessons learned covered in the articles and discusses tradeoffs of specific recommendations made by the authors. The conclusion reached is that there is much value in conducting multidisciplinary research and that the benefits of such research far outweigh the challenges that may be encountered along the way. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional factors and physical properties of ballpoint pens that affect user satisfaction: Implications for pen and stylus design

Many studies of ballpoint pens have been conducted. However, those studies have not considered the emotional factors that can enhance user experience. Styluses resemble ballpoint pens in many ways, which are widely available in a variety of styles. Therefore, in the present study, we explored the physical and emotional attributes that improve user satisfaction with typical ballpoint pens, with the goal of also understanding what factors might be important for stylus design. First, 14 emotional factors associated with the pens were derived. Second, 16 different types of ball-point pens were measured for six physical properties. Then, an experiment was performed to assess user satisfaction and emotional factors for pens. The House of Quality (HOQ) was used to obtain the chief physical properties. Results showed that to increase user satisfaction it is necessary to make pens be comfortable, fine, refined, deep, and natural. Also, we found that for high user satisfaction pens need to be heavier and longer, have thick and antislip grips and thin nibs, and their center of gravity should be located close to the nib to increase user satisfaction.

Parallel Development of James J. Gibson’s Ecological and Paul M. Fitts’s Information Processing Approaches to Perception and Performance

James J. Gibson and Paul M. Fitts, two psychologists who had, and continue to have, a substantial influence on research in perception, action, and human performance, had remarkable, parallel careers with roots in the U.S. Army Air Forces Aviation Psychology program in World War II. Fitts is widely regarded as founder of the applied field of engineering psychology and the basic field of human performance, both based on a human information processing approach. Gibson founded ecological psychology, a school of thought that runs counter to the information processing approach and adopts a radical empiricist approach to perception and action in natural environments. Despite the origins of their disparate views in applied aviation psychology and each having had major impacts on the field of psychology, Gibson and Fitts seem to have had little contact with each other, and their research traditions have continued primarily along separate paths to this day. In this article, we review the arcs of Fitts’s and Gibson’s careers, emphasizing similarities and differences historically and theoretically. We end with a discussion of why their approaches differed widely, whether attempts to reconcile them can be meaningful, and the importance of experimental psychologists attending to applied research problems.

Word- and arrow-based Simon effects emerge for eccentrically presented location words and arrows

Two experiments examined whether the location-based Simon effect and word- or arrow-based Simon effects, and their interaction, emerge in the same task situations by presenting location words and (left and right, Experiment 1) or single-headed arrows (left and right pointing, Experiment 2) in the left-right visual field. These tasks include two attributes of task-irrelevant location information, physical location and either location word (Experiment 1) or arrow direction (Experiment 2), when they vary jointly for a single stimulus. Moreover, the location-based Simon effect in these tasks was compared to that obtained in a pure location-based Simon task. Results showed that (1) the location-, word- and arrow-based Simon effects occurred on both mean RT and delta plots; (2) the word- and arrow-based Simon effects interacted with the location-based Simon effect on mean RT; (3) the Simon effect in the pure location-based Simon task differed little from the location-based Simon effect in the two joint Simon tasks. These results indicate that different task-irrelevant spatial attributes can influence responses in the same task, and that one of them can influence the effect of the other on responses. This latter result offers evidence that the different attributes do not provide separate sources of activation.

Lillian Gilbreth and Amelia Earhart: How an Eye Toward Diversity Brought Two Pioneers Together

Amelia Earhart and Lillian Gilbreth are well-known for their accomplishments during the 20th century in aviation and industrial management, respectively. Both were outspoken advocates of women having professional careers during a time when that was uncommon. For these reasons, in 1935, Edward C. Elliott, then president of Purdue University, hired Earhart and Gilbreth. Earhart served as counselor on careers for women and consultant for aeronautics until her death in 1937 and Gilbreth as counselor and professor of management until 1948. Their contributions provide a beacon for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in its continual striving for diversity and equality for all members.

Stimulus-Response and Response-Effect Compatibility With Touchless Gestures and Moving Action Effects

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether response-effect (R-E) compatibility or stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility is more critical for touchless gesture responses.

BACKGROUND

Content on displays can be moved in the same direction (S-R incompatible but R-E compatible) or opposite direction (S-R compatible but R-E incompatible) as the touchless gesture that produces the movement. Previous studies suggested that it is easier to produce a button-press response when it is R-E compatible (and S-R incompatible). However, whether this R-E compatibility effect also occurs for touchless gesture responses is unknown.

METHOD

Experiments 1 and 2 employed an R-E compatibility manipulation in which participants made responses with an upward or downward touchless gesture that resulted in the display content moving in the same (compatible) or opposite (incompatible) direction. Experiment 3 employed an S-R compatibility manipulation in which the stimulus occurred at the upper or lower location on the screen.

RESULTS

Overall, only negligible influences of R-E compatibility on performing the touchless gestures were observed (in contrast to button-press responses), whereas S-R compatibility heavily affected the gestural responses.

CONCLUSION

The R-E compatibility obtained in many previous studies with various types of responses appears not to hold for touchless gestures as responses.

APPLICATION

The results suggest that in the design of touchless interfaces, unique factors may contribute to determining which mappings of gesture and display movements are preferred by users.

On the Evolution of a Radical Concept: Affordances According to Gibson and Their Subsequent Use and Development

James J. Gibson, the founder of ecological psychology, introduced a radical empiricist approach to perception and action centered on direct perception in naturalistic environments that was counter to popular representational views of his time. This direct perception approach and the associated introduction of the affordance concept have been extremely influential in several fields of study. However, since its inception, the affordance concept has evolved in a manner such that it now deviates significantly from Gibson's original intention. This review follows use of the affordance concept by four sets of influential experimental psychologists: Gibson, Donald Norman, Mike Tucker and Rob Ellis, and Daniel Bub and Michael Masson. Particular attention is paid to the manner in which they applied the concept and the contributions provided by each set of researchers. The primary goal of this review is to determine what cognitive psychologists can take away from developments within the field and what considerations should be taken into account when using the term affordance. Having a more thorough understanding of the factors that led to the concept of affordance and its recent reformulations will better equip cognitive psychologists and, by extension, human factors researchers to further advance the study of perception-action relations.

Response repetitions in auditory task switching: The influence of spatial response distance and of the response-stimulus interval

In task switching studies, response repetition effects are typically obtained: When the task repeats, response repetitions are faster than response switches (response repetition benefit), but when the task switches, the opposite is found (response repetition cost). Previously, it was found that spatial response distance [RD] affected the response repetitions: separated response keys led to longer reaction times [RT] for response repetitions (in both task repetitions and task switches) than adjacent response keys. The goal of the present study was to replicate this RD effect in a modified setup with auditory stimuli (in Experiments 1 and 2). As we were interested in the temporal dynamics of the RD effect, we also introduced a block-wise manipulation of response-stimulus interval (RSI) in Experiment 2. RD modulated responding, replicating the results of a prior study that used visual stimuli, but only when the RSI was long. With short RSI, the RD effect was not obtained. At the same time, a long RSI led to more pronounced response repetition effects in the error rates. These results imply that response inhibition from the previous trial, which is assumed to contribute to the response repetition effect and to the modulation of responding by response distance, builds up over time.

Embedding Training Within Warnings Improves Skills of Identifying Phishing Webpages

OBJECTIVE

Evaluate the effectiveness of training embedded within security warnings to identify phishing webpages.

BACKGROUND

More than 20 million malware and phishing warnings are shown to users of Google Safe Browsing every week. Substantial click-through rate is still evident, and a common issue reported is that users lack understanding of the warnings. Nevertheless, each warning provides an opportunity to train users about phishing and how to avoid phishing attacks.

METHOD

To test use of phishing-warning instances as opportunities to train users' phishing webpage detection skills, we conducted an online experiment contrasting the effectiveness of the current Chrome phishing warning with two training-embedded warning interfaces. The experiment consisted of three phases. In Phase 1, participants made login decisions on 10 webpages with the aid of warning. After a distracting task, participants made legitimacy judgments for 10 different login webpages without warnings in Phase 2. To test the long-term effect of the training, participants were invited back a week later to participate in Phase 3, which was conducted similarly as Phase 2.

RESULTS

Participants differentiated legitimate and fraudulent webpages better than chance. Performance was similar for all interfaces in Phase 1 for which the warning aid was present. However, training-embedded interfaces provided better protection than the Chrome phishing warning on both subsequent phases.

CONCLUSION

Embedded training is a complementary strategy to compensate for lack of phishing webpage detection skill when phishing warning is absent.

APPLICATION

Potential applications include development of training-embedded warnings to enable security training at scale.

Shared mechanisms underlying the location-, word- and arrow-based Simon effects

A left or right keypress response to a relevant stimulus attribute (e.g., color) is faster when irrelevant left or right stimulus-location information corresponds with the correct response than when it does not. This phenomenon, known as the Simon effect, is obtained not only for physical locations, but also location words "left" and "right" and left- or right-pointing arrows. However, these location-, word-, and arrow-based Simon effects show different patterns in the reaction-time (RT) distributions, as evident in delta plots. In the present study, we employed procedures, analysis of survival curves and divergence point analysis, which have not previously been applied to the Simon effect, to investigate differences in time course of these various Simon effects in more detail. Also, we examined whether the diffusion model for conflict tasks (DMC), which assumes that automatic activation of task-irrelevant information occurs in a pulse-like function, can capture not only features of the RT distributions for the location-based Simon effect, to which it has been fit previously, but also features of the word- and arrow-based Simon effects, to which it has not. Results showed different survival curves and earliest, maximum, and latest divergence points for the three Simon effects, but DMC was able to capture the basic features of the RT distributions reflected by delta plot and survival curves for all effects. The results imply that the location-, word-, and arrow-based Simon effects have shared mechanisms, although they have different RT distributions.

Adoption of Population-Level Statistical Methods Did Transform Psychological Science but For the Better: Commentary on Lamiell (2018)

Lamiell presents a case that differential psychology (the study of individual differences) and experimental psychology should properly be classified as a form of demography (psychodemography) rather than psychology. He indicates that individual differences pertain to correlations in a population and maintains that mainstream psychology misinterprets such correlations as attributes of individuals. Lamiell also claims that because experimental psychology uses group designs, it too is demography, and he recommends that experimental psychology return to “genuinely appropriate” methods of deriving general laws from the study of individuals. We disagree with Lamiell’s assessment and classifications, and we emphasize that group experiments have yielded considerable knowledge about the nature of information processing in individuals.

Information Processing: The Language and Analytical Tools for Cognitive Psychology in the Information Age

The information age can be dated to the work of Norbert Wiener and Claude Shannon in the 1940s. Their work on cybernetics and information theory, and many subsequent developments, had a profound influence on reshaping the field of psychology from what it was prior to the 1950s. Contemporaneously, advances also occurred in experimental design and inferential statistical testing stemming from the work of Ronald Fisher, Jerzy Neyman, and Egon Pearson. These interdisciplinary advances from outside of psychology provided the conceptual and methodological tools for what is often called the cognitive revolution but is more accurately described as the information-processing revolution. Cybernetics set the stage with the idea that everything ranging from neurophysiological mechanisms to societal activities can be modeled as structured control systems with feedforward and feedback loops. Information theory offered a way to quantify entropy and information, and promoted theorizing in terms of information flow. Statistical theory provided means for making scientific inferences from the results of controlled experiments and for conceptualizing human decision making. With those three pillars, a cognitive psychology adapted to the information age evolved. The growth of technology in the information age has resulted in human lives being increasingly interweaved with the cyber environment, making cognitive psychology an essential part of interdisciplinary research on such interweaving. Continued engagement in interdisciplinary research at the forefront of technology development provides a chance for psychologists not only to refine their theories but also to play a major role in the advent of a new age of science.

Taking into consideration explanations of perception-action interactions that may be "less dramatic, but more reflective of what happens in the real world"

Bruce Bridgeman and colleagues reported the first experiments providing evidence of two functionally distinct visual-processing systems. We summarize that work and subsequent research that resulted in modifications of this view. Then, we describe studies of stimulus-response correspondence effects that provide evidence for distinct representations of responses. More recently, Bridgeman and colleagues examined whether "action affects perception", concluding that the phenomena can be more accurately construed as "information affects memory". Although unconvinced about claims of action-affects-perception and embodied cognition, Bridgeman and colleagues concluded that processing of visual information in hand-space is facilitated and cited a phenomenon as supporting evidence. We discuss findings indicating that this phenomenon is due to general spatial coding principles. We think that all researchers should proceed in the manner of Bridgeman of developing novel explanations, devising critical tests between them and alternative possible explanations, and accepting the explanation that best conforms to the results, even if that explanation is a "less dramatic" option.

How different direct association routes influence the indirect route in the same Simon-like task

The location-, word-, and arrow-based Simon effects are usually attributed to the result of a direct route (the spatially corresponding stimulus-response association, activated automatically) that interferes with an indirect route (the association of task-relevant information and response, activated in accordance with the instructed stimulus-response mapping). We examined whether and how distinct direct routes (stimulus-location-response position and location word-response position or arrow direction-response position associations) affect responding on the basis of the same indirect route (a stimulus color-response association) in a Simon-like task. For this task, left-right keypresses were made to indicate the ink colors of location words or left- or right-pointing arrows, presented eccentrically in left or right locations. The location-based Simon effect occurred at the levels of mean reaction time (RT) and RT distribution in the word Simon-like task, whereas the word-based Simon effect only occurred at the level of RT distribution. In the arrow Simon-like task, the location-based Simon effect did not occur at the level of mean RT, but did at the level of RT distribution, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for the arrow-based Simon effect. These results could imply that one direct route influences the effects of the other direct route on the responses, depending on the task context.

Human Factors in the Privacy and Security of the Internet of Things

The “Internet of things” (IoT) refers to Internet-enabled technologies designed to increase the efficiency of users’ lives by communicating with other objects and elements in a system. The growth in these interconnected devices has been matched with increases in the use and aggregation of data collected by vendors or third parties. The number of hackers attempting to access users’ private information also has grown. Although attempts have been made to increase IoT security, the role users can play in protecting their information has been overlooked. We illustrate the necessity of taking a user-centered approach to privacy and security when designing and developing IoT technologies.

The Method of Negative Instruction: Herbert S. Langfeld's and Ludwig R. Geissler's 1910-1913 Insightful Studies

Herbert S. Langfeld and Ludwig R. Geissler published insightful articles during the period of 1910-1913 using what they called the Method of Negative Instruction, which anticipated much current research on action control and the role of instructions. We review their studies and relate the findings to contemporary research and views concerning task-irrelevant congruency effects and deception, concluding that their work has not received the credit it warrants. We also call for contemporary researchers to revisit prior studies, especially ones conducted before the cognitive revolution in psychology, to enrich their knowledge of the field and improve the quality of their research.

Hick's law for choice reaction time: A review

In 1952, W. E. Hick published an article in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, "On the rate of gain of information." It played a seminal role in the cognitive revolution and established one of the few widely acknowledged laws in psychology, relating choice reaction time to the number of stimulus-response alternatives (or amount of uncertainty) in a task. We review the historical context in which Hick conducted his study and describe his experiments and theoretical analyses. We discuss the article's immediate impact on researchers, as well as challenges to and shortcomings of Hick's law and his analysis, including effects of stimulus-response compatibility, practice, very large set sizes and sequential dependencies. Contemporary modeling developments are also described in detail. Perhaps most impressive about Hick's law is that it continues to spawn research efforts to the present and that it is regarded as a fundamental law of interface design for human-computer interaction using technologies that did not exist at the time of Hick's research.

Mixing compatible and incompatible mappings: Elimination, reduction, and enhancement of spatial compatibility effects

In two-choice tasks, the compatible mapping of left stimulus to left response and right stimulus to right response typically yields better performance than does the incompatible mapping. Nonetheless, when compatible and incompatible mappings are mixed within a block of trials, the spatial compatibility effect is eliminated. Two experiments evaluated whether the elimination of compatibility effects by mixing compatible and incompatible mappings is a general or specific phenomenon. Left–right physical locations, arrow directions, and location words were mapped to keypress responses in Experiment 1 and vocal responses in Experiment 2. With keypresses, mixing compatible and incompatible mappings eliminated the compatibility effect for physical locations and arrow directions, but enhanced it for words. With vocal responses, mixing significantly reduced the compatibility effect only for words. Overall, the mixing effects suggest that elimination or reduction of compatibility effects occurs primarily when the stimulus-response sets have both conceptual and perceptual similarity. This elimination may be due to suppression of a direct response-selection route, but to account for the full pattern of mixing effects it is also necessary to consider changes in an indirect response-selection route and the temporal activation properties of different stimulus-response sets.

Role of hand dominance in mapping preferences for emotional-valence words to keypress responses

When a crossed-hands placement (right hand presses left key; left hand presses right key) is used in a two-choice spatial reaction task, the mapping of left stimulus to left key and right stimulus to right key yields faster responses than the opposite mapping. In contrast, de la Vega, Dudschig, De Filippis, Lachmair, and Kaup (2013) reported that when right-handed individuals classified words as having positive or negative affect, there was a benefit for mapping positive affect to the right hand (left key) and negative affect to the left hand (right key). The goal of the present study was to replicate and extend this seemingly distinct finding. Experiment 1 duplicated the design of that study without including nonword "no-go" trials but including a condition in which participants performed with an uncrossed hand placement. Results corroborated the benefit for mapping positive to the right hand and negative to the left hand with the hands crossed, and this benefit was as large as that obtained with the hands uncrossed. Experiment 2 confirmed the importance of the dominant/subordinate hand distinction with left-handed participants, and Experiment 3 showed, with right-handed participants, that it does not depend on which limb is placed over the other. The results verify that the mapping advantage for positive→right/negative→left is indeed due to the distinction between dominant and subordinate hands. Possible reasons for the difference between these results and those obtained with spatial-location stimuli are considered.

Flowers and spiders in spatial stimulus-response compatibility: does affective valence influence selection of task-sets or selection of responses?

The present study examined the effect of stimulus valence on two levels of selection in the cognitive system, selection of a task-set and selection of a response. In the first experiment, participants performed a spatial compatibility task (pressing left and right keys according to the locations of stimuli) in which stimulus-response mappings were determined by stimulus valence. There was a standard spatial stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) effect for positive stimuli (flowers) and a reversed SRC effect for negative stimuli (spiders), but the same data could be interpreted as showing faster responses when positive and negative stimuli were assigned to compatible and incompatible mappings, respectively, than when the assignment was opposite. Experiment 2 disentangled these interpretations, showing that valence did not influence a spatial SRC effect (Simon effect) when task-set retrieval was unnecessary. Experiments 3 and 4 replaced keypress responses with joystick deflections that afforded approach/avoidance action coding. Stimulus valence modulated the Simon effect (but did not reverse it) when the valence was task-relevant (Experiment 3) as well as when it was task-irrelevant (Experiment 4). Therefore, stimulus valence influences task-set selection and response selection, but the influence on the latter is limited to conditions where responses afford approach/avoidance action coding.

Do silhouettes and photographs produce fundamentally different object-based correspondence effects?

When participants classify pictures of objects as upright or inverted with a left or right keypress, responses are faster if the response location (left/right) corresponds with the location of a handle (left/right) than if it does not. This result has typically been attributed to a grasping affordance (automatic activation of muscles associated with grasping the object with the ipsilateral hand), but several findings have indicated instead that the effect is a spatial correspondence effect, much like the Simon effect for object location. Pappas (2014) reported evidence he interpreted as showing that spatial coding predominates with silhouettes of objects, whereas photographs of objects yield affordance-based effects. We conducted two experiments similar to those of Pappas, using frying pans as stimuli, with our two experiments differing in whether the entire object was centered on the display screen or the base was centered. When the objects were centered, a positive correspondence effect relative to the handle was evident for the silhouettes but a negative correspondence effect for the photographs. When the base was centered, the handle was clearly located to the left or right side of the display, and both silhouettes and photographs produced correspondence effects of similar size relative to the handle location. Despite the main results being counter to the grasping affordance hypothesis, response-time distribution analyses suggest that, instead of activating automatically at fast responses, an effector-specific component of the hypothesized type may come into play for responses that are selected after the handle location has been identified.

Is Domain Highlighting Actually Helpful in Identifying Phishing Web Pages?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of domain highlighting in helping users identify whether Web pages are legitimate or spurious.

BACKGROUND

As a component of the URL, a domain name can be overlooked. Consequently, browsers highlight the domain name to help users identify which Web site they are visiting. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of domain highlighting, and the only formal study confounded highlighting with instructions to look at the address bar.

METHOD

We conducted two phishing detection experiments. Experiment 1 was run online: Participants judged the legitimacy of Web pages in two phases. In Phase 1, participants were to judge the legitimacy based on any information on the Web page, whereas in Phase 2, they were to focus on the address bar. Whether the domain was highlighted was also varied. Experiment 2 was conducted similarly but with participants in a laboratory setting, which allowed tracking of fixations.

RESULTS

Participants differentiated the legitimate and fraudulent Web pages better than chance. There was some benefit of attending to the address bar, but domain highlighting did not provide effective protection against phishing attacks. Analysis of eye-gaze fixation measures was in agreement with the task performance, but heat-map results revealed that participants' visual attention was attracted by the highlighted domains.

CONCLUSION

Failure to detect many fraudulent Web pages even when the domain was highlighted implies that users lacked knowledge of Web page security cues or how to use those cues.

APPLICATION

Potential applications include development of phishing prevention training incorporating domain highlighting with other methods to help users identify phishing Web pages.

Role of accentuation in the selection/rejection task framing effect

Procedure invariance is a basic assumption of rational theories of choice, however, it has been shown to be violated: Different response modes, or task frames, sometimes reveal opposite preferences. The current study focused on selection and rejection task frames, involving a unique type of problem with enriched and impoverished options, which has previously led to conflicting findings and theoretical explanations: the compatibility hypothesis (Shafir, 1993) and the accentuation hypothesis (Wedell, 1997). We examined the role of task frame by distinguishing these 2 hypotheses and evaluating the information-processing basis of the choices. Experiments conducted online (Experiments 1 and 3) and in-lab (Experiment 4 with eye-tracking technique) revealed a difference between the 2 task frames in the choice data (i.e., the task-framing effect) as a function of the relative attractiveness of the options. Also, this task-framing effect was not influenced by imposed time constraints (Experiments 5 and 6) and was similarly evident with a more direct measure for the option attractiveness (obtained in Experiment 7). Experiment 2, conducted in a lab setting with verbal-protocol requirements, yielded no task-framing effect, suggesting that a requirement to verbalize reasons for choice minimizes accentuation. With this exception, the choice data are in agreement with the accentuation hypothesis, and the combined findings in choice, decision time, task confusion, and eye-tracking data provide evidence of a basis in cognitive effort rather than motivation, as Wedell proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record