Previous research has found that people frequently provideincorrect predictions about the path of moving objects when givenan idealised physics problem to solve. The aim of this research wasto explore whether these incorrect predictions are due to theapplication of an incorrect naïve physics theory, whether incorrectperceptions generated from past experiences lead tomisconceptions of how moving objects behave, or whether it is acombination of both. Thirty-one participants volunteered to takepart in the experiment which followed a two (experiencecongruent/incongruent with naïve physics theory) by two (carriedversus free-moving object) within-subject design. The dependentvariable was participant response (straight down or curvedforwards). Results of the study revealed that participants providedanswers both consistent and inconsistent with the naïve physicstheory. This suggests that responses were primarily elicitedthrough the retrieval of associatively-mediated memories of similarscenarios - some of which contain perceptual illusions. Possiblemethodological limitations and alternative theoretical explanationsare discussed, along with practical and theoretical implications foreducation and learning.

Previous research by Kaniel & Lubow in 1986 found that youngchildren (aged 4-5 years) exhibited poorer learning (latentinhibition) to pre-exposed stimuli than older children (aged 7-10years). The aim of our research was to develop a computer-based,child-friendly study that would replicate the work of Kaniel &Lubow. Sixty-three children took part in our experiment. Thisconsisted of a pre-exposure/study phase in which participants wereasked to press computer keys in response to clipart pictures ofanimals and dinosaurs. Each animal or dinosaur picture waspreceded by one of two “warning signals” which acted as the pre-exposed stimuli (to which no response was required). In the testphase that followed, the participants had to either press thespacebar or withhold their response to each pre-exposed stimulusand two novel stimuli. They learnt which response was correct bytrial and error using the feedback provided. The accuracy andreaction time of the responses during the test phase were analysedand indicated that the youngest children showed significantlylower mean accuracy and longer mean response times to the pre-exposed stimuli than to stimuli they had not been pre-exposed to.In contrast, the older children showed no significant differences intheir responses to pre-exposed and novel stimuli. These results areconsistent with those found by Kaniel & Lubow and could be takenas evidence for latent inhibition in young children. Further studiesare proposed in which variations in pre-exposure procedure areused to rule out explanations based on response inhibition ornegative priming.

Dual-process accounts posit that human learning can occur as a consequence of both associative and propositional processes. This can be contrasted with single process accounts that suggest learning is entirely propositional. In this paper, we offer evidence for both associative and propositional processes using a within-subjects two alternative forced choice discrimination paradigm. Stimuli that varied concurrently along two dimensions were created and each participant’s awareness was directed toward one, facilitating rule induction (i.e., propositional processing) on that dimension. Performance on the other dimension was then used to assess associatively-based performance. We report results that are initially inconsistent with both single process and dual-process accounts of discrimination learning. However, we then show how an associative network, that represents stimuli integrally, can predict the performance shown by participants in the experiment, providing evidence for a dual-process account.

We report the results from two experiments (n=192) examining the congruency effect (better performance for congruent vs incongruent stimuli) for prototype-defined checkerboard composites. We used a complete matching task design as that used to study a robust index of face recognition i.e., the composite face effect. The results from both experiments reveal an effect of order of presentation for congruent and incongruent trials. Critically, participants presented with incongruent first and then congruent trials revealed a significant congruency effect. In contrast, participants presented with congruent first and then incongruent trials showed no congruency effect. These results contribute to the composite effect literature by reporting the first evidence of a congruency effect for artificial non-face stimuli which do not have a predefined orientation. Also, they provide evidence in support of test order as a determining factor potentially modulating the composite effect.

In the present study, we tested the effects of anodal tDCS deliveredover the Fp3 (for 10mins at 1.5mA) on the face inversion effect(better recognition for upright vs inverted faces) while participantsperformed an old/new recognition task. We recruited three groupsof participants (n=72) and randomly assigned them toexperimental conditions. In the anodal Study Phase conditionparticipants received the tDCS stimulation during the learningphase only. In the anodal Recognition Phase condition,participants received the anodal stimulation during the recognitiontask only. In the control group participants received shamstimulation (during the study or recognition phase). Consistentwith previous research, the results showed that anodal stimulationreduced the inversion effect by impairing recognition of uprightfaces. Critically, in both anodal conditions the inversion effect wassignificantly reduced compared to sham, and no difference wasfound between the two anodal conditions. Upright faces in eachanodal condition were recognized significantly worse than sham.This suggests that the tDCS-induced effects on face recognitionare immediate and affect both learning and performance. Weinterpret the results based on the account of perceptual learningand previous work on tDCS and the inversion effect.

In this study we show that a particular form of neuro-stimulation can affect face recognition skills impairing participantsperformance on a face recognition task without affecting the composite face effect. Using a Face-Matching task (n=48)traditionally used to study the composite face effect (better recognition of the top half of an upright face when in compositewith a congruent vs and incongruent bottom half) we confirm that anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS;double-blind and between subjects study) delivered over the left DLPFC at Fp3 (10 mins at 1.5mA) affects overall facerecognition performance for upright faces. But no effect of the tDCS was found on the composite face effect itself. Weinterpret our results in the light of previous literature on the tDCS effects on perceptual learning and face recognition,suggesting that different mechanisms are involved in the face inversion effect and the composite face effect.

In this paper we demonstrate that a target detection taskis facilitated when the background on which the targetis presented is a familiar one, even though the targetappears at a random location. We compare performancein that condition with one where the background israndomly generated and establish a significantdifference between these two versions of the task interms of both d’ and criterion, C. We also go on to lookat the effect of a tDCS procedure that we know to affectdiscrimination performance on this difference,discovering that it seems to reduce or reverse thedifference in criterion for these two conditions. Weascribe this effect to the neurostimulation manipulationshifting the distribution of information used to reach adecision