Zoltan Dienes

Publications of Zoltan Dienes

• Unconscious structural knowledge of tonal symmetry: Tang poetry redefines limits of implicit learning.

  Authors: Shan Jiang, Lei Zhu, Xiuyan Guo, Wendy Ma, Zhiliang Yang, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2012; 21(1):476-86.

  The study aims to help characterize the sort of structures about which people can acquire unconscious knowledge. It is already well established that people can implicitly learn n-grams (chunks) andThe study aims to help characterize the sort of structures about which people can acquire unconscious knowledge. It is already well established that people can implicitly learn n-grams (chunks) and also repetition patterns. We explore the acquisition of unconscious structural knowledge of symmetry. Chinese Tang poetry uses a specific sort of mirror symmetry, an inversion rule with respect to the tones of characters in successive lines of verse. We show, using artificial poetry to control both n-gram structure and repetition patterns, that people can implicitly learn to discriminate inversions from non-inversions, presenting a challenge to existing models of implicit learning.

• No-loss gambling shows the speed of the unconscious.

  Authors: Andy Mealor, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 12/2011; 21(1):228-37.

  This paper investigates the time it takes unconscious vs. conscious knowledge to form by using an improved "no-loss gambling" method to measure awareness of knowing. Subjects could either bet on aThis paper investigates the time it takes unconscious vs. conscious knowledge to form by using an improved "no-loss gambling" method to measure awareness of knowing. Subjects could either bet on a transparently random process or on their grammaticality judgment in an artificial grammar learning task. A conflict in the literature is resolved concerning whether unconscious rather than conscious knowledge is especially fast or slow to form. When guessing (betting on a random process), accuracy was above chance and RTs were longer than when feeling confident (betting on the grammaticality decision). In a second experiment, short response deadlines only interfered with the quality of confident decisions (betting on grammaticality). When people are unaware of their knowledge, externally enforced decisions can be made rapidly with little decline in quality; but if given ample time, they await a metacognitive process to complete. The dissociation validates no-loss gambling as a measure of conscious awareness.

• Strategic control in AGL is not attributable to simple letter frequencies alone.

  Authors: Elisabeth Norman, Mark C Price, Emma Jones, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 10/2011;

  In Norman, Price, and Jones (2011), we argued that the ability to apply two sets of grammar rules flexibly from trial to trial on a "mixed-block" AGL classification task indicated strategic controlIn Norman, Price, and Jones (2011), we argued that the ability to apply two sets of grammar rules flexibly from trial to trial on a "mixed-block" AGL classification task indicated strategic control over knowledge that was less than fully explicit. Jiménez (in press) suggested that our results do not in themselves prove that participants learned - and strategically controlled - complex properties of the structures of the grammars, but that they may be accounted for by learning of simple letter frequencies. We first explain why our main conclusions regarding strategic control and conscious awareness are a separable issue to this criticism. We then report additional data which show that our participants' ability to discriminate between the two grammars was not attributable to differences in simple letter frequencies.

• Empathic neural responses to others' pain depend on monetary reward.

  Authors: Xiuyan Guo, Li Zheng, Wei Zhang, Lei Zhu, Jianqi Li, Qianfeng Wang, Zoltan Dienes, Zhiliang Yang

  Social cognitive and affective neuroscience. 07/2011;

  Human empathy is not merely a resonance with others' physical condition, but is modulated by social factors. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present study demonstrated an increasedHuman empathy is not merely a resonance with others' physical condition, but is modulated by social factors. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present study demonstrated an increased brain empathic response to others in pain when they received no rather than a large reward, with increments of the ACC, aMCC, insula and postcentral gyrus in the pain matrix and temporoparietal junction. Thus, pain target's financial situation modulated brain empathic responses in the pain matrix based on an understanding of the situation pain target faces.

• Acquisition of conscious and unconscious knowledge of semantic prosody.

  Authors: Xiuyan Guo, Li Zheng, Lei Zhu, Zhiliang Yang, Chao Chen, Lei Zhang, Wendy Ma, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 06/2011; 20(2):417-25.

  An experiment explored the acquisition of conscious and unconscious knowledge of semantic prosody in a second language under incidental and intentional learning conditions. Semantic prosody is theAn experiment explored the acquisition of conscious and unconscious knowledge of semantic prosody in a second language under incidental and intentional learning conditions. Semantic prosody is the conotational coloring of the semantics of a word, largely uncaptured by dictionary definitions. Contrary to some claims in the literature, we revealed that both conscious and unconscious knowledge were involved in the acquisition of semantic prosody. Intentional learning resulted in similar unconscious but more conscious knowledge than incidental learning. The results are discussed in terms of second language learning and the nature of unconscious knowledge.

• Unconscious structural knowledge of form-meaning connections.

  Authors: Weiwen Chen, Xiuyan Guo, Jinghua Tang, Lei Zhu, Zhiliang Yang, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2011; 20(4):1751-60.

  We investigated the implicit learning of a linguistically relevant variable (animacy) in a natural language context (namely, the relation of forms of determiners to semantics). Trial by trialWe investigated the implicit learning of a linguistically relevant variable (animacy) in a natural language context (namely, the relation of forms of determiners to semantics). Trial by trial subjective measures indicated that exposure to a form-animacy regularity led to unconscious knowledge of that regularity. Under the same conditions, people did not learn about another form-meaning regularity when a linguistically arbitrary variable was used instead of animacy (size relative to a dog). Implicit learning is constrained to acquire unconscious knowledge about features with high prior probabilities of being relevant in that domain.

• Detecting conscious awareness from involuntary autonomic responses.

  Authors: Ryan B Scott, Ludovico Minati, Zoltan Dienes, Hugo D Critchley, Anil K Seth

  Consciousness and cognition. 12/2010; 20(3):936-42.

  Can conscious awareness be ascertained from physiological responses alone? We evaluate a novel learning-based procedure permitting detection of conscious awareness without reliance on languageCan conscious awareness be ascertained from physiological responses alone? We evaluate a novel learning-based procedure permitting detection of conscious awareness without reliance on language comprehension or behavioural responses. The method exploits a situation whereby only consciously detected violations of an expectation alter skin conductance responses (SCRs). Thirty participants listened to sequences of piano notes that, without their being told, predicted a pleasant fanfare or an aversive noise according to an abstract rule. Stimuli were presented without distraction (attended), or while distracted by a visual task to remove awareness of the rule (unattended). A test phase included occasional violations of the rule. Only participants attending the sounds reported awareness of violations and only they showed significantly greater SCR for noise occurring in violation, vs. accordance, with the rule. Our results establish theoretically significant dissociations between conscious and unconscious processing and furnish new opportunities for clinical assessment of residual consciousness in patient populations.

• Measuring any conscious content versus measuring the relevant conscious content: comment on Sandberg et al.

  Authors: Zoltan Dienes, Anil K Seth

  Consciousness and cognition. 12/2010; 19(4):1079-80; discussion 1081-3.

  Sandberg et al. show that the Perceptual Awareness Scale (PAS) scale is sensitive compared to confidence ratings and wagering in detecting accurate perception. They go on to argue that the PAS scaleSandberg et al. show that the Perceptual Awareness Scale (PAS) scale is sensitive compared to confidence ratings and wagering in detecting accurate perception. They go on to argue that the PAS scale is hence a sensitive measure of conscious perception compared to confidence ratings, a claim disputed here. The fact that some visual content is conscious does not entail that the visual content relevant to making a discrimination is conscious. For example, if one saw a square but was only aware of seeing a flash of something, then one has not consciously seen a square. When PAS and confidence ratings come in conflict, we suggest that it is confidence ratings that more reliably indicate the conscious status of contents allowing discrimination.

• Graded contribution of hippocampus to multifeature binding across temporal delay.

  Authors: Lei Zhu, Xiuyan Guo, Li Zheng, Jianqi Li, Mengchao Pei, Zoltan Dienes, Zhiliang Yang

  Neuroreport. 09/2010; 21(13):902-6.

  It is well accepted that all the elements of an episode are combined together by the hippocampus to form an episodic representation. In this study, we further investigated whether the activationIt is well accepted that all the elements of an episode are combined together by the hippocampus to form an episodic representation. In this study, we further investigated whether the activation pattern of the hippocampus during multifeatural episodic encoding with temporal discontinuities varies with recollective detail in a graded way. Specifically, in the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we manipulated two associative features, color and size, and presented the features and the item sequentially. Right hippocampal activation increased with the number of features successfully bound to the item, supporting a graded role of hippocampal activation in bridging temporal discontinuities for integrating multiple episodic features.

• Prior familiarity with components enhances unconscious learning of relations.

  Authors: Ryan B Scott, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 03/2010; 19(1):413-8.

  The influence of prior familiarity with components on the implicit learning of relations was examined using artificial grammar learning. Prior to training on grammar strings, participants wereThe influence of prior familiarity with components on the implicit learning of relations was examined using artificial grammar learning. Prior to training on grammar strings, participants were familiarized with either the novel symbols used to construct the strings or with irrelevant geometric shapes. Participants familiarized with the relevant symbols showed greater accuracy when judging the correctness of new grammar strings. Familiarity with elemental components did not increase conscious awareness of the basis for discriminations (structural knowledge) but increased accuracy even in its absence. The subjective familiarity of test strings predicted grammaticality judgments. However, prior exposure to relevant symbols did not increase overall test string familiarity or reliance on familiarity when making grammaticality judgments. Familiarity with the symbols increased the learning of relations between them (bigrams and trigrams) thus resulting in greater familiarity for grammatical versus ungrammatical strings. The results have important implications for models of implicit learning.

• Subjective measures of implicit knowledge that go beyond confidence: Reply to Overgaard et al.

  Authors: Zoltan Dienes, Ryan B Scott, Anil K Seth

  Consciousness and cognition. 02/2010;

  Overgaard, Timmermans, Sandberg, and Cleeremans (in press) ask if the conscious experience of people in implicit learning experiments can be explored more fully than just confidence ratings allow. WeOvergaard, Timmermans, Sandberg, and Cleeremans (in press) ask if the conscious experience of people in implicit learning experiments can be explored more fully than just confidence ratings allow. We show that confidence ratings play a vital role in such experiments, but are indeed incomplete in themselves: in addition, use of structural knowledge attributions and ratings of fringe feelings like familiarity are important in characterizing the phenomenology of the application of implicit knowledge.

• Knowledge applied to new domains: The unconscious succeeds where the conscious fails.

  Authors: Ryan B Scott, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 12/2009;

  A common view holds that consciousness is needed for knowledge acquired in one domain to be applied in a novel domain. We present evidence for the opposite; where the transfer of knowledge isA common view holds that consciousness is needed for knowledge acquired in one domain to be applied in a novel domain. We present evidence for the opposite; where the transfer of knowledge is achieved only in the absence of conscious awareness. Knowledge of artificial grammars was examined where training and testing occurred in different vocabularies or modalities. In all conditions grammaticality judgments attributed to random selection showed above-chance accuracy (60%), while those attributed to conscious decisions did not. Participants also rated each string's familiarity and performed a perceptual task assessing fluency. Familiarity was predicted by repetition structure and was thus related to grammaticality. Fluency, though increasing familiarity, was unrelated to grammaticality. While familiarity predicted all judgments only those attributed to random selection showed a significant additional contribution of grammaticality, deriving primarily from chunk novelty. In knowledge transfer, as in visual perception (Marcel, 1993), the unconscious may outperform the conscious.

• Grapheme-colour synaesthesia improves detection of embedded shapes, but without pre-attentive 'pop-out' of synaesthetic colour.

  Authors: Jamie Ward, Clare Jonas, Zoltan Dienes, Anil Seth

  Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society. 12/2009;

  For people with synaesthesia letters and numbers may evoke experiences of colour. It has been previously demonstrated that these synaesthetes may be better at detecting a triangle made of 2s among aFor people with synaesthesia letters and numbers may evoke experiences of colour. It has been previously demonstrated that these synaesthetes may be better at detecting a triangle made of 2s among a background of 5s if they perceive 5 and 2 as having different synaesthetic colours. However, other studies using this task (or tasks based on the same principle) have failed to replicate the effect or have suggested alternative explanations of the effect. In this study, we repeat the original study on a larger group of synaesthetes (n = 36) and include, for the first time, an assessment of their self-reported colour experiences. We show that synaesthetes do have a general advantage over controls on this task. However, many synaesthetes report no colour experiences at all during the task. Synaesthetes who do report colour typically experience around one third of the graphemes in the display as coloured. This is more consistent with theories of synaesthesia in which spatial attention needs to be deployed to graphemes for conscious colour experiences to emerge than the interpretation based on 'pop-out'.

• Implicit knowledge and motor skill: What people who know how to catch don't know.

  Authors: Nick Reed, Peter McLeod, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and cognition. 09/2009;

  People are unable to report how they decide whether to move backwards or forwards to catch a ball. When asked to imagine how their angle of elevation of gaze would change when they caught a ball,People are unable to report how they decide whether to move backwards or forwards to catch a ball. When asked to imagine how their angle of elevation of gaze would change when they caught a ball, most people are unable to describe what happens although their interception strategy is based on controlling changes in this angle. Just after catching a ball, many people are unable to recognise a description of how their angle of gaze changed during the catch. Some people confidently choose incorrect descriptions that would guarantee failure of interception demonstrating unconscious knowledge co-existing with systematically different conscious beliefs. Where simple solutions to important evolutionary problems exist, unconscious perception needs to be impervious to conscious beliefs.

• The generalized optic acceleration cancellation theory of catching.

  Authors: Peter McLeod, Nick Reed, Zoltan Dienes

  Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance. 03/2006; 32(1):139-48.

  The generalized optic acceleration cancellation (GOAC) theory of catching proposes that the path of a fielder running to catch a ball is determined by the attempt to satisfy 2 independentThe generalized optic acceleration cancellation (GOAC) theory of catching proposes that the path of a fielder running to catch a ball is determined by the attempt to satisfy 2 independent constraints. The 1st is to keep the angle of elevation of gaze to the ball increasing at a decreasing rate. The 2nd is to control the rate of horizontal rotation necessary to maintain fixation on the ball. Depending on the lateral velocity of the ball relative to the fielder, this rate may be zero or constant at a negative or positive value. The authors show that a simulated fielder implementing the GOAC strategy follows a path indistinguishable from that of real fielders running to catch balls thrown on the same trajectories.

• Psychophysics: how fielders arrive in time to catch the ball.

  Authors: Peter McLeod, Nick Reed, Zoltan Dienes

  Nature. 12/2003; 426(6964):244-5.

  Tracking an object moving in three dimensions, whether as an insect pursuing a mate on the wing or as a batsman aiming to hit an approaching ball, provides the spatial and temporal information neededTracking an object moving in three dimensions, whether as an insect pursuing a mate on the wing or as a batsman aiming to hit an approaching ball, provides the spatial and temporal information needed to intercept it. Here we show how fielders use such tracking signals to arrive at the right place in time to catch a ball - they run so that their angle of gaze elevation to the ball increases at a decreasing rate while their horizontal gaze angle to the ball increases at a constant rate (unless the distance to be run is small). Allowing the horizontal angle to increase minimizes the acceleration that the fielder must achieve to reach the interception point at the same time as the ball.

• The optic trajectory is not a lot of use if you want to catch the ball.

  Authors: Peter McLeod, Nick Reed, Zoltan Dienes

  Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance. 01/2003; 28(6):1499-501.

  According to linear optic trajectory (LOT) theory, fielders use the direction of curvature of theoptic trajectory to control the way they run to intercept the ball. Data presented by D. M. ShafferAccording to linear optic trajectory (LOT) theory, fielders use the direction of curvature of theoptic trajectory to control the way they run to intercept the ball. Data presented by D. M. Shaffer and M. K. McBeath (2002) as support for LOT theory show that the optic trajectory of balls that will fall behind the fielder provide the cue that LOT theory predicts would send the fielder running forward, not backward. In this article, the authors show that watching these balls would provide the fielder with the cue that the optic acceleration cancellation (OAC) theory of interception predicts would send the fielder running backward. It appears that the fielders studied by Shaffer and McBeath were following the cue predicted by OAC theory, not that predicted by LOT theory.

• Unknown

  Authors: Peter McLeod, Nick Reed, Zoltan Dienes

  06/2002;

  According to linear optic trajectory (LOT) theory fielders use the direction of curvature of the optic trajectory to control the way they run to intercept the ball. Data presented by Shaffer andAccording to linear optic trajectory (LOT) theory fielders use the direction of curvature of the optic trajectory to control the way they run to intercept the ball. Data presented by Shaffer and McBeath (2002) as support for LOT theory show t hat the optic t rajectory of balls which will fall behind the fielder provide the cue which LOT theory predicts would send the fielder running forwards, not backwards. We show that watching these balls would provide the fielder with the cue which the Optic Acceleration Cancellation (OAC) theory of interception predicts would send the fielder running backward. It appears that the fielders studied by Shaffer and McBeath were following t he cue predicted by OAC theory, no t that predicted by LOT theory. The optic t rajectory is no t a lo t of use if you want to catch the ball Currently there are t wo approaches t o how people run to the right place to catch a ball - Linear Op tic Trajectory (LOT) theory and Opt ic Acceleration Cancellation (OAC) theory. LOT theory starts from the empirical observation that # and # increase in roughly constant proportion as the fielder runs (McBeath, Shaffer & Kaiser 1995, 1996; Shaffer & McBeath, 2002). (# and # are defined in the Appendix). According to LOT theory there is a projection plane on which the image of the ball follows a path (the optic trajectory) with a direction defined by the ratio #/#. The fielder attempts to run in such a way that this trajectory remains linear, and in consequence, # and # increase in constant proportion. If the fielder does this the ball will be intercepted. Departure of the trajectory from linearity provides the cue for the fielder to adjust the way in which he or she is running. If, on the current path of ball and fielder, the ball will land in front of the fielde...

• Acquisition of conscious and unconscious knowledge of semantic prosody

  Authors: Xiuyan Guo, Li Zheng, Lei Zhu, Zhiliang Yang, Chao Chen, Lei Zhang, Wendy Ma, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and Cognition.

  An experiment explored the acquisition of conscious and unconscious knowledge of semantic prosody in a second language under incidental and intentional learning conditions. Semantic prosody is theAn experiment explored the acquisition of conscious and unconscious knowledge of semantic prosody in a second language under incidental and intentional learning conditions. Semantic prosody is the conotational coloring of the semantics of a word, largely uncaptured by dictionary definitions. Contrary to some claims in the literature, we revealed that both conscious and unconscious knowledge were involved in the acquisition of semantic prosody. Intentional learning resulted in similar unconscious but more conscious knowledge than incidental learning. The results are discussed in terms of second language learning and the nature of unconscious knowledge.

• Prior familiarity with components enhances unconscious learning of relations

  Authors: Ryan B. Scott, Zoltan Dienes

  Consciousness and Cognition.

  The influence of prior familiarity with components on the implicit learning of relations was examined using artificial grammar learning. Prior to training on grammar strings, participants wereThe influence of prior familiarity with components on the implicit learning of relations was examined using artificial grammar learning. Prior to training on grammar strings, participants were familiarised with either the novel symbols used to construct the strings or with irrelevant geometric shapes. Participants familiarised with the relevant symbols showed greater accuracy when judging the correctness of new grammar strings. Familiarity with elemental components did not increase conscious awareness of the basis for discriminations (structural knowledge) but increased accuracy even in its absence. The subjective familiarity of test strings predicted grammaticality judgments. However, prior exposure to relevant symbols did not increase overall test string familiarity or reliance on familiarity when making grammaticality judgments. Familiarity with the symbols increased the learning of relations between them (bigrams and trigrams) thus resulting in greater familiarity for grammatical versus ungrammatical strings. The results have important implications for models of implicit learning.