The Power of Mind: The Use of Force Sensors to Measure Cognitive Processes
Wed-H8-Talk 7-7404
Presented by: Alex Miklashevsky
BACKGROUND
Measuring the timing of mental processes is crucial in experimental psychology. However, reaction time methods do not provide dynamic data. Other methods like EEG might be time- and effort-consuming. Recent studies from our and other labs showed that mental processes – such as language comprehension, attention, or numerical processing – dynamically affect the grip force when people hold a simple-to-use force sensor (e.g., Miklashevsky et al., 2022; Miklashevsky, 2022). The current study aimed to deepen the understanding of force signals to study cognition by (1) disentangling stimulus- and response-related processes and (2) examining the effects of lateral attention shifts on holding force.
METHOD
In five experiments, we measured participants’ (N = 39) bilateral passive holding force while guiding their attention with external cues (lateral stars) and symbolic cues (central arrows or the words ‘left’ or ‘right’), either with or without explicit responses.
RESULTS
Both early attention shifts caused by stimuli and later response preparation processes consistently influenced holding force. These force signatures emerged well before overt motor responses were given.
DISCUSSION
Continuous holding force registration is a convenient new way to study cognitive dynamics. Our results demonstrate that tracking holding force with high temporal precision distinguishes stimulus- vs. response-related, as well as attentional processes. We propose a data-processing pipeline that can be flexibly adjusted for research of other cognitive phenomena using the force registration method.
References:
Miklashevsky, A., Fischer, M. H., & Lindemann, O. (2022). Acta Psychologica, 231, 103791. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103791
Miklashevsky, A. (2022). PLoS ONE 17(7): e0262510. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262510
Measuring the timing of mental processes is crucial in experimental psychology. However, reaction time methods do not provide dynamic data. Other methods like EEG might be time- and effort-consuming. Recent studies from our and other labs showed that mental processes – such as language comprehension, attention, or numerical processing – dynamically affect the grip force when people hold a simple-to-use force sensor (e.g., Miklashevsky et al., 2022; Miklashevsky, 2022). The current study aimed to deepen the understanding of force signals to study cognition by (1) disentangling stimulus- and response-related processes and (2) examining the effects of lateral attention shifts on holding force.
METHOD
In five experiments, we measured participants’ (N = 39) bilateral passive holding force while guiding their attention with external cues (lateral stars) and symbolic cues (central arrows or the words ‘left’ or ‘right’), either with or without explicit responses.
RESULTS
Both early attention shifts caused by stimuli and later response preparation processes consistently influenced holding force. These force signatures emerged well before overt motor responses were given.
DISCUSSION
Continuous holding force registration is a convenient new way to study cognitive dynamics. Our results demonstrate that tracking holding force with high temporal precision distinguishes stimulus- vs. response-related, as well as attentional processes. We propose a data-processing pipeline that can be flexibly adjusted for research of other cognitive phenomena using the force registration method.
References:
Miklashevsky, A., Fischer, M. H., & Lindemann, O. (2022). Acta Psychologica, 231, 103791. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103791
Miklashevsky, A. (2022). PLoS ONE 17(7): e0262510. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262510
Keywords: grip force, holding force, force registration, cognitive processes, attention, time-resolved data