Visuospatial working memory abilities and spontaneous sensations perception

Attention and body awareness: The role of inhibition and the management of cognitive resources in the perception of spontaneous sensations.

“…Given the amount of evidence indicating the high prevalence of interactions between visual and body-directed attention (Amlôt et al, 2003; Cardini et al, 2011; Doricchi et al, 2010; Forster & Eimer, 2005; Kennett et al, 2001; Macaluso & Driver, 2005; Naveteur, 2007; Naveteur et al, 2005; Press et al, 2004; Serino et al, 2007; Spence, 2002; Taylor-Clarke et al, 2002, 2004), many studies have also raised the question of whether attentional processes mobilized in unrelated paradigms are associated with body awareness (Gregory et al, 2003; Matthias et al, 2009; Pollatos et al, 2007; Salgues, Plancher, & Michael, 2021). Previous studies have suggested that attentional processes like inhibition (Michael et al, 2012; Michael & Naveteur, 2011; Naveteur et al, 2015) and the management of cognitive resources (Matthias et al, 2009) are those most likely to contribute to body awareness.…”

“…Power analyses were conducted on the effect size of the proximo-distal gradient in the frequency of SPS, which is the most prominent characteristic of these phenomena. Based on 10 published studies (Beaudoin & Michael, 2014; Borg et al, 2015; Echalier et al, 2020; Michael et al, 2012, 2015, 2017; Michael, Guyot, et al, 2020; Michael & Naveteur, 2011; Salgues, Plancher, Jacquot, et al, 2021; Salgues, Plancher, & Michael, 2021), the weighted average effect size expressed as Cohen’s w was .35 (i.e., medium to large) and as Cramer’s V , it was .19 (i.e., medium to large). Given that a power of 70% is required to detect a similar medium to large effect size and α at .05, the number of hand maps needed is 70.…”

“…The difficulty of the auditory detection task was also varied to add further complexity by forcing cognitive resources to be withdrawn from the visual task. The standard SPS task, which required the detection, localization on the glabrous surface of the hands, and identification of SPS (Michael et al, 2015; Salgues, Plancher, Jacquot, et al, 2021; Salgues, Plancher, & Michael, 2021), was then administered. We hypothesized that difficulties in inhibiting distractors in the visual search-like task, as they impair selective attention, would be negatively related to the perception of SPS.…”

“…In contrast, difficulties in distributing cognitive resources between the visual and auditory tasks would be positively related to the perception of SPS, since they are detrimental to divided attention. Following the approach adopted in the previous studies investigating the involvement of cognitive factors in the perception of SPS (Echalier et al, 2020; Michael et al, 2015, 2017; Salgues, Plancher, Jacquot, et al, 2021; Salgues, Plancher, & Michael, 2021), we compared the measures of attentional difficulties with topographical and nontopographical SPS characteristics. We expected the relationship between attentional difficulties and the perception of SPS to be revealed by the frequency of SPS and their nontopographical characteristics.…”

Relaxing music and the self: Insights from the perception of spontaneous sensations

“…Curiously, all the factors that have been found to contribute to the perception of SPS are intrinsic to one’s own characteristics, be they demographic, such as gender and age (Naveteur et al, 2015), psychological (e.g., working memory, attention, and the propensity to mind-wander; Michael et al, 2012; Michael & Naveteur, 2011, 2017; Salgues et al, 2021a, 2021b; Tihanyi & Köteles, 2017), behavioral (e.g., movement), physiological (e.g., electroencephalogram connectivity at rest; Bauer, Barrios, et al, 2014; Bauer, Díaz, et al, 2014; Michael et al, 2015; Salgues et al, 2021a), or even pathological (e.g., chronic pain; Borg et al, 2015; Echalier et al, 2020). The scientific literature suggests that internal self-referential and self-awareness processes may be modulated by external factors (Marshall et al, 2017).…”