Previous research has revealed that self-persuasion can occur either through role-playing (i.e., when arguments are generated to convince another person) or, more directly, through trying to convince oneself (i.e., when arguments are generated with oneself as the target). Combining these 2 traditions in the domain of attitude change, the present research investigated the impact on self-persuasi...

The present work aimed at assessing whether the interference exerted by task-irrelevant spatial information is comparable in high- and low-susceptible individuals and whether it may be eliminated by means of a specific posthypnotic suggestion. To this purpose high- and low-susceptible participants were tested using a Simon-like interference task after the administration of a suggestion aimed at...

In principle coupled oscillators can overcome mismatch in intrinsic firing rates and match their frequencies, but with a nonzero phase lag. Delay in communication, on the other hand, can exert phase shifts in the concerted activity of the coupled oscillators. In this study, we address the question of how synchronization can be achieved for a two neurons system, in presence of mismatch and delay...

The authors offer a new, integrative conceptualization of the relational self based on a synthesis of recent approaches to the self and significant others. This conceptualization provides a sharper and fuller definition of the relational self than does any existing approach alone and a common framework to interpret findings from separate literatures. The authors then present 5 propositions and ...

Thirty male volunteers participated in a study evaluating the effect of workspace envelope (work height and reach distance) and handle orientation on grip force capacity. Maximum voluntary power grip exertions were recorded using instrumented tool handles under three conditions: a pistol grip tool handle oriented horizontally and vertically and a right angle tool handle oriented horizontally. S...

The Naturally-Transitioning Rate-to-Force Controller (NTRFC) for manipulators is presented. In free motion rate control is provided, while in contact the same rate commands are proportional to the force exerted on the environment by the manipulator. The transition between free motion and stable contact with the environment requires no changes in control mode or gains and hence is termed natural...

We present our investigation of the torque exerted on dielectric elliptical cylinders by highly focused laser beams. The calculations are performed with rigorous diffraction theory, and the size-dependent torque is analyzed as a function of the axis ratio. It is found that highly elongated particles will experience a reversal of the torque for a radius that is approximately one third of the wav...

Usually in the presence of a background noise an increased effort put in controlling a system stabilizes its behavior. Rarely it is thought that an increased control of the system can lead to a looser response and, therefore, to a poorer performance. Strikingly there are many systems that show this weird behavior; examples can be drawn form physical, biological, and social systems. Until now no...

In this study we aim to examine how the implicit learning of statistical regularities of successive stimuli affects the ability to exert cognitive control. In three experiments, sequences of flanker stimuli were segregated into pairs, with the second stimulus contingent on the first. Response times were reliably faster for the second stimulus if its congruence tended to match the congruence of ...

This paper elaborates a recent conceptualization of feature-based attention in terms of attention filters (Drew et al., Journal of Vision, 10(10:20), 1-16, 2010) into a general purpose centroid-estimation paradigm for studying feature-based attention. An attention filter is a brain process, initiated by a participant in the context of a task requiring feature-based attention, which operates bro...