BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

● An existing theory known as embodied cognition suggests that the way the body interacts with its environment affects perception and
cognition. Embodied cognition focuses on the phenomena that stimuli at or near the hands are candidates for attention and action
● There are several hand postures that enhance attention
○ Ex: Pointing, lifting, or grasping
● Prior literature shows that the Stroop effect is smaller when the stimuli is presented between the hands
○ Attention benefits from particular hand positions

THE RODIN POSTURE: A NEW HAND-RELATED ATTENTIONAL EFFECT

● Tested the Rodin hand configuration, a posture epitomized in Auguste Rodin's 1902 sculpture, "The Thinker."
○ Maintains spatial distance between the observer and stimulus (critical factor); no preparation needed towards the object
○ Posture may express self-attention networks in the prefrontal, intraparietal, and temporal lobe structures

THE PRESENT STUDY

● Research Question: Does holding the chin (Rodin hand placement) enhance attention to the same extent as placing one's hand near the
stimulus?
○ Hand positions:
■ Rodin posture. Hand holds or rests on chin (with the other hand resting across the chest)
■ Proximal posture. The participants held with both hands the sides of the computer screen. This posture matched the hand
position documented for inducing better selective attention, known as the near-hands-effect.
■ Distal posture. Hands rested on the knees.
○ Used the Stroop effect
■ Employs selective attention (the major cognitive process tested in the near-hand effect)
■ Assess the strength of semantic processing, which is reported to be enhanced when holding the hands near the stimulus
■ The Stroop Task is composed of sixteen combinations of four color words: RED, BLUE, GREEN, and BROWN. Each word is
printed in the corresponding colors: red, blue, green, and brown.
■ No words are printed in the same color that is written.
■ Color words are presented and the examinee must relay the word's color while ignoring the word's meaning. They indicated
the color by speaking into the microphone and their answers were recorded.
● Hypothesis: In addition to replicating the near-hands effect with the proximal hand condition, we will find better attentional selectivity in the
Rodin hand position.
 METHODS
Experiment 1a: Rodin hand posture vs. proximal hand posture vs. distal hand posture
● An independent sample of 36 young adults from Israel performed the Stroop task. The age range was between 19 and 31 years (32 females, Mean: 24.2
years of age). Each participant completed 3 blocks of 50 trials, each entailing a different hand posture (Rodin, proximal, and distal), with the first pair of
trials in each block serving for practice. Half of the experimental trials were congruent and the other half incongruent. The participants initiated each trial by
pressing the spacebar on the computer keyboard. The next stimulus followed 300 ms after each response. The participants were asked to focus on the
color of the world and to ignore the meaning of the word. Participants were tested individually in a dimly lit room. They were seated at a distance of 50 cm in
front of the screen. Response time was measured as the time from stimulus onset to the capturing of sound via the microphone in milliseconds.
○ Rodin posture. The participants held their chin with a hand of their choice (with the other hand resting across the chest)
○ Proximal posture. The participants held with both hands the sides of the computer screen. This posture matched the hand position documented for
inducing better selective attention, known as the near-hands-effect.
○ Distal posture. The participants rested their hands on their knees.

Experiment 1b: Tested Stroop performance in the Rodin posture with both hands holding the chin
● An independent sample of 32 young adults from Israel performed in the same Stroop task as in Experiment 1a. Specifically, age was between 19 and 32
(30 females, Mean: 23.28 years of age). Similarly to experiment 1a, the participants were recruited through advertisement.
● The stimuli, apparatus, and design were those used in Experiment 1a. Participants in Experiment 1b were strictly instructed to perform only using the Rodin
condition, holding their chin with both hands. This task also proposed one block of 50 randomized trials, with the first 2 trials considered practice.
● As mentioned, the procedure for Experiment 1b was the same as those in Experiment 1a. For instance, participants were seated at a distance of 50 cm in
front of a computer screen that presented colored words against a white background, individually, in a dimly lit room. To reiterate, the participants were
asked to focus on the color and to ignore both the meaning and the actual word. The next stimulus followed 300 ms after each response. Participants were
encouraged to respond quickly and accurately.

Experiment 2: Rule out if putting hand beneath the chin stabilizes the head, thus improving visual acuity
● An independent group of 38 Tel-Aviv University Students participated in Experiment 2 in partial fulfillment of a course requirement. Participants were
between the ages of 19 and 30 (36 females, Mean: 23.72 years of age).
● The stimuli, apparatus, and design were those used in Experiment 1a, except for a few changes. In each trial of the task, the stimulus was presented on
screen for a shorter duration of 100ms in an effort to prevent head and neck movement during stimulus exposure. Experiment 2 tested two conditions of
hand-position: Rodin-chin (hand of choice on chin and other on chest) and distal-knees (hand of choice on knee).
 FINDINGS
RESULTS:
Experiment 1a: Rodin hand posture vs. proximal hand posture vs. distal hand posture
● Conducted a within-subjects ANOVA with Stimulus Congruity and Hand position as the main factors
● The mean RTs were 874 and 731 ms, respectively, for incongruent and congruent stimuli
○ Difference of 143 ms = highly significant Stroop effect
● No main effect for hand position
○ However, interaction of congruity and hand position were significant
● Stroop effects in the Rodin hand posture and in the proximal hand posture = both were significantly
smaller than the distal hand posture
○ Rodin and proximal hand posture = did not differ significantly from one another
● Shows the importance of hand position for attention, and most importantly, Rodin hand position (supports
prior literature and addresses research question)

Experiment 1b: Tested Stroop performance in the Rodin posture with both hands holding the chin
● The mean RTs were 820 and 711 ms, respectively, for incongruent and congruent stimuli.
○ Difference of 109 ms = highly reliable Stroop effect
● When doing a between subject ANOVA:
○ Interaction of Congruity (congruent; incongruent) and Hand Position (Rodin-both hands; distal) =
significant
○ Stroop effect was 60 ms smaller, compared with the distal – knee condition.
● Reinforce results from Experiment 1a: Rodin posture is effective in enhancing selective attention in the
Stroop task (in support of the hypothesis)

Experiment 2: Rule out if putting hand beneath the chin stabilizes the head, thus improving visual acuity
● Response times to incongruent and congruent stimuli were 692 and 574 ms, respectively.
○ Difference of 118 ms favoring congruent stimuli = highly significant Stroop effect
● Stroop effect was smaller by 26 ms in the Rodin posture than the Stroop effect in the distal-knee posture
● Rodin position, itself, produces better attention, not movements by the head or neck (addresses potential
confounding variable)
 DISCUSSION/INTERPRETATION
How do authors interpret their findings?
● Hatukai et al. (2020) found that the Stroop effect impacts the proximal hand position and the Rodin hand position less than those in the distal hand stance. However, the Stroop effects in
proximal hand posture and Rodin structure differed slightly.
○ According to Hatukai et al. (2020), these results emphasize the significance of the hand's position in an individual's attention towards a given stimulus. The hand position generated
enhanced attention selectivity even though it was far from the stimulus in the Rodin posture. Having two hands on the chin in Rodin's posture also improves the selectivity of
attention than with one hand. Hatukai et al. (2020) also ruled out the explanation that putting hands below the chin help in stabilizing the head and hence improve visual acuity.
Holding the chin produces enhanced attention, not movement of the head because holding the chin produces better attention selectivity than when an individual holds their knees.
There the Rodin posture is superior in enhancing selectivity of attention.
● This study backs the body of existing knowledge that the position of hands determines an individual's selectivity of attention.
○ The authors used Rodin's posture alongside other experiments that have already been conducted. For example, Hatukai et al. (2020) incorporated the proximal hand
posture that has already been confirmed to enhance selective attention in their study alongside the Rodin structure. However, the authors did not find a significant
difference in both postures' attention selectivity. Both proximal hand posture and Rodin hand postures benefited from attention selectivity almost the same.

How does this study contribute to existing body of knowledge on this topic?
● This study ruled out the alternative explanation to the rodin posture. This alternative explanation asserts that placing hands on the chin help in stabilizing the head, thereby
enhancing visual awareness. The study proved that holding the chin helps in enhancing selective attention and not preventing the head from shaking to enhance visual
awareness.
● The study improved various works that only focused on investigating the role of hands in enhancing distal stimuli.The study shows how the hands enhance the selectivity of
attention even when the stimuli are not found within reach of an individual's hands. The study found no difference in placing the hands on the chin or placing them on the monitor
since both the Rodin posture and proximal posture were beneficiaries of attention selectivity to an equal extent. The proximal hands' effect is inconsistent and hardly systematic.
Furthermore, the proximal hand effect can only be observed under somewhat confining conditions such as relatively fewer trials, speeded responses, and concisely presented
stimuli.

Limitations:
● The study was limited by sample and selection issues
○ More than ten participants’ data were removed from the analysis in this study because they generated high error rates. Removing these participant’s data affected the
overall results since it affected the sample size. A participant had to be removed for failing to see the experiment to its completion. Failure of a participant to complete the
experiment would have resulted from the selection limitation that led to inappropriate participants. Reduced sample size limited the interpretability of this study
Future research:
● This study proves that the Rodin posture enhances the selective attention of an individual but does not give details about the mechanisms involved in mediating the rodin posture
effect. Further studies will analyze various sensory-peripheral justifications before looking into a certain brain mechanism involved in this process and investigate the Rodin
posture for stimuli further away for the response and responding effector. Additionally, studies should investigate the effect of placing the hand in other positions near the face,
such as near the chin but not touching the chin, placing hands on the head, or scratching the head when an individual is paying attention to the stimuli.