Browsing by Author "Trujillo, Natalia"

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    Gesture influences the processing of figurative language in non-native speakers: ERP evidence
    (2010) Ibanez, Agustin; Manes, Facundo; Escobar, Josefina; Trujillo, Natalia; Andreucci, Paola; Hurtado, Esteban
    Gestures should play a role in second language comprehension, given their importance in conveying contextual information. In this study, the N400 and the LPC were evaluated in a task involving the observation of videos showing utterances accompanied by gestures. Students studying advanced (G-High participants) and basic German (G-Low participants) as a second language were investigated. The utterance-gesture congruence and metaphoric meaning of content were manipulated during the task. As in previous ERP reports with native speakers, metaphorical expressions were sensitive to gestures. In G-Low participants, no modulation in the 300-500 ms window was observed, and only a modest effect was observed for the 500-700 ms window. More subtle differences of verbal expression were not processed in this group. Consistent with previous reports of the same paradigm with native speakers, the N400 from G-High group discriminated both congruent and incongruent gestures as well as literal and metaphorical sentences. Our results suggest that semantic processing is robust in the learning of a second language, although the amplitude modulation and latency of ERPs might depend on the speaker's proficiency level. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Imprints of War: An Analysis of Implicit Prejudice Among Victims, Ex-Combatants, and Communities in Colombia
    (2022) Ugarriza, Juan E.; Trujillo, Natalia; Hurtado, Esteban; Ortiz-Ayala, Alejandra; Rodriguez-Calvache, Monica; Camilo Quishpe, Rafael
    Armed conflict impacts individuals at psychological level by affecting the mechanisms of information processing, opinion formation, and decision-making. By means of a computer-based Implicit Association Test (IAT), we tested intergroup prejudices of 258 war victims, former guerrillas and paramilitaries, and receiving communities in Colombia. We found that differing levels of exposure to war-related experiences help to explain the observed systematic bias, both implicit and explicit, against former combatants, among communities, and particularly so among war victims. We concluded on the need to re-assess the public policy on reintegration and reconciliation in the face of generally unacknowledged psychological effects of war on people's attitudes.
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    Subliminal presentation of other faces (but not own face) primes behavioral and evoked cortical processing of empathy for pain
    (ELSEVIER, 2011) Ibanez, Agustin; Hurtado, Esteban; Lobos, Alejandro; Escobar, Josefina; Trujillo, Natalia; Baez, Sandra; Huepe, David; Manes, Facundo; Decety, Jean
    Current research on empathy for pain emphasizes the overlap in the neural response between the first-hand experience of pain and its perception in others. However, recent studies suggest that the perception of the pain of others may reflect the processing of a threat or negative arousal rather than an automatic pro-social response. It can thus be suggested that pain processing of other-related, but not self-related, information could imply danger rather than empathy, due to the possible threat represented in the expressions of others (especially if associated with pain stimuli). To test this hypothesis, two experiments considering subliminal stimuli were designed. In Experiment 1, neutral and semantic pain expressions previously primed with own or other faces were presented to participants. When other-face priming was used, only the detection of semantic pain expressions was facilitated. In Experiment 2, pictures with pain and neutral scenarios previously used in ERP and fMRI research were used in a categorization task. Those pictures were primed with own or other faces following the same procedure as in Experiment 1 while ERPs were recorded. Early (N1) and late (P3) cortical responses between pain and no-pain were modulated only in the other-face priming condition. These results support the threat value of pain hypothesis and suggest the necessity for the inclusion of own-versus other-related information in future empathy for pain research. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.