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Sequential effects are prominent and pervasive phenomena that exist in most perceptual judgments. Of importance, these effects reflect dynamic aspects in our judgment bias induced by the recent context. When making successive judgments in response to a sequence of stimuli, two opposing consequences have frequently been observed: assimilation effects – current stimuli judged as being closer to preceding stimuli than they actually are, and contrast effects – current stimuli judged as being further from preceding stimuli than they actually are. Although several cognitive accounts have been previously proposed, there is still a lack of consensus on the underlying mechanism, particularly regarding the insights of the temporal dynamics. Building upon accumulating human M/EEG findings, I propose a framework to explain how sequential bias is generated, unfolded over time, and eventually incorporated into the formation of current biased judgment. By bringing sequential effects closer to a biologically plausible framework, this synthetic view could account for how the opposing consequences of sequential effects differentially evolve, distinguish the effects from other perceptual phenomena with similar behavioral outcomes (such as aftereffects and priming), and illuminate how perceptual judgment is adaptively adjusted under the impact of temporal context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control problem of T-S fuzzy system with actuator amplitude, rate and acceleration saturations is addressed in this paper, where state augmented feedback controller with LMIs (Liner Matrix Inequalities) constraint conditions are proposed. Dynamic decoupling method is applied to fuzzify the input magnitude saturation nonlinearity into several sub-linear systems with fuzzy rules, thus a new T-S fuzzy system with input rate and acceleration saturations can be obtained. Then PDC (parallel distributed compensation) and NPDC (non-PDC) controller are both designed for the new T-S fuzzy system. The first and second order derivatives of input variable are given to obtain an augmented fuzzy system. As the augmented system output variable, the input rate is represented by first order derivative of the input term, the rate saturation constraint is described through norm bounded method. Moreover, the polytopic approach is used to replace the second order derivative of the input term, and a state augmented feedback NPDC controller is designed, the domain of attraction optimization process is also given. Finally, two practical examples are presented to show the effectiveness of proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing models of facial identity perception often assume that information conveyed by facial stimuli provides the sole basis for identity judgments, largely ignoring the involvement of contextual effects. Capitalizing on sequential effects, the present study investigates whether facial identity is judged relative to a context shaped by stimuli presented in previous trials. When categorizing a sequence of facial identities, our results demonstrated that participants' categorization of current faces varied according to the local sequential context provided by the immediately preceding faces and, to some extent, by the preceding stimuli presented two trials prior to the current trial. Moreover, this variation depended on the relative distance between the preceding and current faces. Notably, the nature of these identity-based sequential effects was qualitatively different between male and female participants. Female participants tended to respond to the current faces with the same category label as on the preceding faces. However, male participants responded with the same label only when the relative distance was small, but responded with a different label when the relative distance was increasingly large. The present study demonstrates that relative information between the preceding and current faces may be used as evidence to inform a judgment. However, this process is multifaceted rather than unitary and depends in part on participant gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participants performed a priming task during which emotional faces served as prime stimuli and emotional words served as targets. Prime–target pairs were congruent or incongruent, and two levels of prime visibility were obtained by varying the duration of the masked primes. To probe a neural signature of the impact of the masked primes, lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) were recorded over motor cortex. In the high-visibility condition, responses to word targets were faster when the prime–target pairs were congruent than when they were incongruent, providing evidence of priming effects. In line with the behavioral results, the electrophysiological data showed that high-visibility face primes resulted in LRP differences between congruent and incongruent trials, suggesting that prime stimuli initiated motor preparation. Contrary to the above pattern, no evidence for reaction time or LRP differences was observed in the low-visibility condition, revealing that the depth of facial expression processing is dependent on stimulus visibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]