How we get directions wrong

Credit: Kyoto University  
Using virtual three-dimensional mazes together with functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers from Kyoto University investigated
whether a person's preconceptions could be represented in brain activity.
Ever had the experience of receiving details instructions on how to do something, then get it mixed up and confused?

 According to this research out of the University of Kyoto, this confusion may be due to the way our brain maintains our preconceived ideas.  Our preconceived ideas are hard to shake, so we end up mixing up our preconceptions with the instructions.  Result?  Confusion.

 So how does this apply to writers?  Suppose you're writing a murder mystery, and your bad guy has an accomplice who is given specific instructions on setting up the bad guy's alibi.  Your detective can't break the bad guy.  But the accomplice?  Did he do exactly as instructed?  Or did he make a mistake?

 Or perhaps you're developing an action-adventure plot.  The main character must rely on others to accomplish something.  Given this research, it's natural and normal for someone to intermix instructions with their own preconceived ideas.  Result?  The plan goes wrong.

 Here's the report with a link to the full study in the attribution.
*  *  *  *  *


Mazes and brains: When preconception trumps logic
Regions in brain that may lead to new communication tools found

Researchers reconstruct what we see in our minds when
we navigate -- and explain how we get directions wrong.

Rhe regions of the brain responsible for preconception have been found by researchers who have decoded what scenes people picture in their minds. The discovery helps researchers to reconstruct what we see in our minds when we navigate -- and explain how we get directions wrong.

The brain helps us navigate by continually generating, rationalizing, and analyzing great amounts of in-formation. For example, this innate GPS-like function helps us find our way in cities, follow directions to a specific destination, or go to a particular restaurant to satisfy a craving.

"When people try to get from one place to another, they 'foresee' the upcoming landscape in their minds," said study author Yumi Shikauchi. "We wanted to decode prior belief in the brain, because it's so crucial for spatial navigation."

Using virtual three-dimensional mazes together with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers investigated whether a person's preconceptions could be represented in brain activity.

Participants were led through each maze, memorizing a sequence of scenes by receiving directions for each move. Then, while being imaged using fMRI, they were asked to navigate through the maze by choosing the upcoming scene from two options. In contrast to methods in previous studies, the re-searchers focused on the underpinnings of expectation and prediction, crucial cognitive processes in everyday decision making.

Twelve decoders deciphered brain activity from fMRI scans by associating signals with output variables. They were ultimately able to reconstruct what scene the participants pictured in their minds as they progressed through the maze.

They also discovered that the human sense of objectivity may sometimes be overpowered by preconception, which includes biases arising from external cues and prior knowledge.

"We found that the activity patterns in the parietal regions reflect participants' expectations even when they are wrong, demonstrating that subjective belief can override objective reality," said senior author Shin Ishii.

Shikauchi and Ishii hope that this research will contribute to the development of new communication tools that make use of brain activity.

"There are a lot of things that can't be communicated just by words and language. As we were able to decipher virtual expectations both right and wrong, this could contribute to the development of a new type of tool that allows people to communicate non-linguistic information," said Ishii. "We now need to be able to decipher scenes that are more complicated than simple mazes."
Story Source:  Materials provided by Kyoto University.  Yumi Shikauchi, Shin Ishii. Decoding the view expectation during learned maze navigation from human fronto-parietal network. Scientific Reports, 2015

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Workout supplements: An emerging eating disorder in men?

Image
therewontbeanydoves.wordpress.com When developing a fictional character, you may not think about the character using large amounts of over-the-counter dietary supplements.  Especially a man who uses large amounts of workout supplements. While there has been widespread publicity on the dangers of the non-prescribed use of anabolic steroids, not much is said about legal, over-the-counter supplements.  Are there risks?  And if so, what are they?  There are several things the writer should consider. Supplement use is becoming an eating disorder with many men who use them to prepare for and recover from a workout. There is growing evidence of a link between muscle-building supplements and testicular cancer. There is evidence that over-the counter medications and supplements are the most common causes of drug-induced liver failure (a rare event, but still a risk.)  There is even evidence that, “certain popular herbal and dietary supplements can also cause liver damage,"
Read more

Using Artificial Intelligence to Predict Violence. . . or to Control It?

Image
Dell EMC InFocus A staple of science fiction is a future where artificial intelligence (AI) is used to control people's behavior, or, in which AI supplants the human element. I have mixed feelings about AI, its uses, and our future.  For one thing, it's questionable that the human brain can increase in size or complexity without causing the system to slow down.  The brain of a "genius" isn't larger than yours or mine, its simply organized differently.  The difference between early versions of humans and modern humans is in large part, size.  Yes, brain organization plays a role, but until the latest iteration of us, brain size was the critical factor. If we as a species have survived based on brain size, and brain size has maxed out, how do we continue to evolve intellectually?  Better organization?  Yes, but can we ever hope to create and control this type of evolutionary activity? One solution to maxed human brain size is creating an interface
Read more

Remember faces but not names? You got it wrong.

Image
Source:   Daily Excelsior So, you think you're good at remembering faces, but terrible with names? New research has revealed we are actually better at remembering names than faces The cringe-worthy experience of not being able to remember an acquaintance's name leads many of us to believe we are terrible with names. However, new research has revealed this intuition is misleading; we are actually better at remembering names than faces. With the Christmas party season fast approaching, there will be plenty of opportunity to re-live the familiar, and excruciatingly-awkward, social situation of not being able to remember an acquaintance's name. This cringe-worthy experience leads many of us to believe we are terrible at remembering names. However, new research has revealed this intuition is misleading; we are actually better at remembering names than faces. The authors of the study, from the University of York, suggest that when we castigate ourselves f
Read more

The Downside of Being 'Class Clown'

Image
Source:  Bart's Blackboard Down side of being dubbed 'class clown' Class clowns' off-task antics amuse and delight their classmates during first and second grades, making them the most sought-after playmates on the playground in early elementary school.  But by the time these mischievous boys are promoted to third grade, they plummet to the bottom of the social circle as classmates' disapproval of their behavior grows, a new study found. Perhaps most worrisome is that by third grade, playful boys may be internalizing others' negative assessments and begin viewing themselves as social failures, possibly setting them on a course for a host of poor academic and developmental outcomes, said researcher Lynn A. Barnett, an educational psychologist and professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois. These sudden reversals in playful boys' social fortunes from first to third grade may be classmates' mirroring of teachers
Read more

M.I.T. Research Explains How Will Rogers Observation Works

Image
Finally it appears that MIT has gotten involved in proving Will's syllogism, "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." Read his statement carefully.   ONE learns by reading.   A FEW who learn by observation. Then there's the rest of us. The reason for this, it turns out, is a special circuit in the brain that you or I need to have a functioning version of to actually learn by observing others.  Based on how we all behave, it is a circuit most of us must be missing.   Or perhaps it shorted out the first time we peed on an electric fence and it has yet to grow back.   *  *  *  *  * Brain circuit helps us learn by watching others Scientists pinpoint neural interactions that are necessary for observational learning Researchers have identified a brain circuit required to learn by watching others. This circuit,
Read more