BackgroundIn the human visual system, different attributes of an object, such as shape, color, and motion, are processed separately in different areas of the brain. This raises a fundamental question of how are these attributes integrated to produce a unified perception and a specific response. This “binding problem” is computationally difficult because all attributes are assumed to be bound together to form a single object representation. However, there is no firm evidence to confirm that such representations exist for general objects.Methodology/Principal FindingsHere we propose a paired-attribute model in which cognitive processes are based on multiple representations of paired attributes. In line with the model's prediction, we found that multiattribute stimuli can produce an illusory perception of a multiattribute object arising from erroneous integration of attribute pairs, implying that object recognition is based on parallel perception of paired attributes. Moreover, in a change-detection task, a feature change in a single attribute frequently caused an illusory perception of change in another attribute, suggesting that multiple pairs of attributes are stored in memory.Conclusions/SignificanceThe paired-attribute model can account for some novel illusions and controversial findings on binocular rivalry and short-term memory. Our results suggest that many cognitive processes are performed at the level of paired attributes rather than integrated objects, which greatly facilitates the binding problem and provides simpler solutions for it.

SUMMARYIn neural networks based on a distributed information representation, when different patterns are to be recalled from the same input by association depending on the context, the usual method is to concatenate the pattern representing the context with the input pattern. However, there is a serious problem in this approach, and strong constraints are imposed on the number of inputs and the number of context patterns. This paper tries to apply a different method of contextual modification to nonmonotonic neural networks in order to construct a context-dependent associative model that can solve the longstanding problem. In the proposed model, the number of associations that can be learned increases almost in proportion to the number of elements, regardless of the numbers of the input and context patterns. In addition, the state transitions among attractors can be controlled flexibly by switching the context, which enables the model to simulate the behavior of any finite automaton without inducing an explosive increase in the number of elements or the training time. The model also has a high generalization power ability based on fully distributed representations and has potential for overcoming the limitations of conventional symbol processing.

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Posting negative comments on viral websites can be regarded as a kind of complaint behavior, that adequate responses to those negative e-WOMs from supplier may cure customer's dissatisfaction and are effective to their repurchasing decision making. In our previous study, we have examined the effect of replies and found that responding to negative review had positive effect. Also, the effect of empathetic response differed depending on customer's motivation for posting negative e-WOMs. However, some factors relating customers' attributes or purchasing contexts are not well discussed. Based on these backgrounds, we have examined how the customers' gender and the attributes of merchandize may figure in, with respect to the psychological effect that supplier's empathetic response may have on customers who write negative reviews. 881 participants were surveyed by web-based questionnaire to measure the psychological effect of reply itself and the empathy expressed in it. The results showed that gender of the contributor and controllability of the problem are both significantly affecting the evaluation of supplier's responses. While in case of "low controllable" problem, the results agree well with earlier studies, in case of "high controllable" problem, empathetic comments worked negatively. This study implicates that the type of response expected for negative reviews is qualitatively different from what is expected in the case of a 'complaint' which requires certain response from the supplier.

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