相似和相同语言标签对幼儿归纳推理的影响

为进一步检验相似语言标签的效应,采用经典的三角属性归纳范式,通过两个实验研究了"相似/相同"的真实语言标签对4岁幼儿归纳推理的影响.在实验一中,三角范式中的三个刺激物属于同一类别,在实验二中,三个刺激物属于两种不同的类别.每个实验均有三种条件:在控制条件中,实验者用"这个"指代每个客体;在相似语言标签条件中,靶刺激与知觉不相似的比较刺激具有相同的、且暗示了类别成员关系的词素(例如,翠鸟—飞机—鸵鸟);在相同语言标签条件中,靶刺激和知觉不相似的比较刺激共享相同的语言标签(例如,鸟—飞机—鸟).结果一致显示,与控制条件相比,幼儿在相似语言标签条件下表现出了更多的基于概念的归纳,表明在真实语言标签条件下也存在相似语言标签效应.同时,研究结果也显示,幼儿在相似和相同语言标签条件下的归纳没有显著差异,说明语言标签在幼儿归纳中更可能传递了概念信息,从而挑战了Sloutsky等的理论.     

儿童早期分类与基于类别的归纳的一致性

传统的观点认为,儿童早期的分类是基于类别的归纳的基础。根据这种观点,儿童早期的分类与基于类别的归纳是一致的。该研究在不同材料条件下测试了4岁儿童面临知觉相似和概念冲突时的自由分类与归纳推理的一致性。研究结果显示,在照片条件下,4岁儿童的自由分类和基于类别的归纳是不一致的,儿童的分类主要是基于知觉相似的,而基于类别的归纳主要是基于概念的;在线条画条件下,儿童的分类与基于类别的归纳是一致的,都主要是基于知觉相似的。这些结果显示,儿童早期的分类和基于类别的关系是复杂的。     

3.5~5.5岁儿童在知觉相似与概念冲突情形下的归纳推理

了探讨儿童是基于知觉相似的还是基于概念的进行归纳推理的,利用儿童较为熟悉的材料,设计了一种知觉相似与概念冲突的情形,并在4种不同的信息提示条件下,测试了总共275名3.5岁、4.5岁和5.5岁儿童的归纳推理。实验结果显示,在预备实验中,3.5岁的儿童已经能够排除无关刺激要么基于知觉相似要么基于概念进行归纳推理,但二者没有显著差异;在正式实验中,在4种任务条件下,3.5岁的儿童的情况基本与预备实验相同,而4.5岁和5.5岁的儿童则更倾向于基于概念进行归纳推理,这表明儿童的归纳推理可能的确经历了从依据知觉相似到依据概念关系的转变,但发生转变的年龄应该不是在7~8岁,而是在4岁之前     

主题关系在4~5岁儿童不同属性归纳推理发展中的作用

为探讨主题关系在儿童归纳推理中的作用,采用经典的三角归纳范式,设计了主题关系和知觉相似冲突、主题关系和分类学关系冲突两种情形,来考察4~5岁儿童在内在属性和情境性属性任务中的归纳推理。结果显示：当主题关系和知觉相似冲突时,从4.5岁开始儿童主要基于主题关系对情境性属性进行归纳推理,而对于内在属性的推论,4~5岁儿童在基于主题关系和基于知觉相似上没有显著差异。当主题关系和分类学关系冲突时,从4.5岁开始儿童主要基于主题关系对情境性属性进行归纳推理,从5岁开始儿童主要基于分类学关系对内在属性进行归纳推理。两个实验结果均发现5岁和5.5岁儿童能够依据不同的属性使用不同的关系推理,表现出归纳灵活性     

不熟悉材料伴随熟悉类别标签时儿童的归纳推理

对呈现在儿童面前的不熟悉的材料用儿童熟悉的、各不相同的类别标签命名之后,使儿童面临知觉相似和类别冲突的情形下,研究了儿童的归纳推理及其发展。研究结果显示,在此情形下,5岁儿童的归纳推理主要是基于知觉相似的,7岁儿童基于知觉相似和基于类别的归纳推理之间差异不显著,11岁儿童则主要基于类别进行归纳推理。     

从知觉分心任务看儿童类比推理能力的发展

采用四类图片类比映射任务,考察了知觉分心对90名4岁、5岁、6岁儿童类比推理能力发展的影响,并进一步阐释影响儿童类比推理能力发展的可能机制。四类图片类比映射任务分别为一种关系无分心任务、一种关系有分心任务、两种关系无分心任务和两种关系有分心任务。结果表明：（1）在具备相应知识经验的前提下,知觉分心对儿童类比推理成绩有显著影响,儿童在无分心任务中的表现明显好于知觉分心任务的表现。在无分心条件下,4岁儿童已经开始能够选择关系匹配来正确完成类比推理。错误分析发现知觉分心任务中儿童所犯错误主要是分心错误,而且分心错误随年龄增长呈下降趋势。这表明对知觉分心的抑制控制可能是儿童类比推理能力发展的一个重要影响因素。（2）随着年龄增长,儿童类比推理能力逐渐提高。总体表现为6岁组的成绩显著优于4岁、5岁组的成绩,而4岁组的成绩与5岁组的成绩没有显著差异。5岁可能是儿童能够抑制知觉分心进行类比推理的快速发展期     

分心抑制和关系整合对学前儿童类比推理的影响

为探究分心抑制和关系整合对学前儿童类比推理的影响，实验一先初步探究分心抑制和关系整合对25名3~4岁和26名5~6岁儿童完成含有知觉分心的类比情景任务的影响。其次，揭示知觉分心与关系整合在类比推理中的具体作用模式。实验二先初步探究分心抑制和关系整合对30名3~4岁和28名5~6岁儿童完成含有语义分心的类比情景任务的影响。其次，揭示语义分心与关系整合在类比推理中的具体作用模式。结果表明，抑制控制能显著预测儿童完成各种类型类比推理成绩，工作记忆能显著预测儿童完成含有语义分心的类比推理成绩而不能显著预测含有知觉分心的类比推理成绩。儿童完成类比情景中的分心抑制是在关系整合中完成的，当类比情景中的关系整合没有超过儿童的工作记忆容量时，知觉或语义分心才能造成对儿童类比推理的影响。     

学前儿童基于物体重量归纳推理的发展:中美跨文化比较

关于物体重量认知的研究是探讨儿童整个认知发展的重要途径之一。本文通过两个实验考察了美国和中国儿童利用语言标签基于重量进行归纳推理的发展特点及跨文化一致性。实验人员利用语言标签提示三个外部知觉特征完全相似物体中的一个物体,随后要求儿童从剩余两个物体中选择一个他们认为和目标物体共享语言标签的物体。研究考察儿童是否能够基于物体的内在属性重量进行类别判断。结果显示:(1) 4岁和5岁儿童以重量进行归纳推理显著高于3岁儿童, 4岁和5岁儿童之间的差异不显著;(2)美国和中国4岁和5岁儿童的表现均显著高于随机水平, 3岁儿童与随机水平没有显著差异;(3)美国2岁儿童的表现边缘低于随机水平, 6岁儿童显著高于随机水平。总之,儿童利用语言标签进行基于重量的归纳推理随年龄增长而发展;美国和中国儿童在发展特点及年龄转折上具有跨文化一致性, 4岁儿童具备了利用语言标签进行基于物体内在属性归纳推理的能力。     

人类面孔识别工作记忆的脑电位特征

采用事件相关电位(ERPs)技术探索延迟匹配任务范式下面孔识别工作记忆的脑电位特征。实验以面孔图片为刺激,在校大学生被试完成靶匹配工作记忆任务。结果发现,被试识别靶面孔及分心物面孔时均在枕颞区两侧诱发N170,且靶与分心物的N170振幅在相同电极上都没有显著差异,在颞区两侧的P7和P8上差异显著;无论靶面孔还是分心物面孔,工作记忆的 ERPs均产生了 P300成分。在分别追踪新靶和熟悉靶的工作记忆任务条件下,靶与分心物的ERPs波形在250 ms后出现分离,且靶刺激波幅均比分心物更正,新靶比熟悉靶更正。熟悉分心物与新分心物之间显示出250~650 ms的前额区旧/新效应,在晚期的450~650 ms时段,新工作记忆比旧工作记忆波幅更正。这些结果表明,面孔识别的N170效应可能反映的是面孔知觉的整体加工,且 N170的右半球优势具体为颞区的右侧优势;先前的面孔学习会影响工作记忆期间大脑对面孔的识别反应。     

工作记忆负荷对注意缺陷多动障碍儿童过滤新异分心刺激能力的影响*

关于启动工作记忆负荷的强度与过滤分心刺激这两种认知资源的关系一直存在争论;并且对ADHD儿童来说,新异的分心刺激是提高了唤醒水平,还是干扰了任务进程也一直存在争论。本研究选取了ADHD儿童32名,正常儿童35名。采用视听跨通道oddball任务,通过操作视觉任务工作记忆负荷的高低,以及分心刺激与目标刺激之间的时间间隔,探讨不同工作记忆负荷对 ADHD 儿童过滤新异分心刺激能力的影响。结果发现：(1)在低工作记忆负荷条件下,分心刺激对两组儿童都起到了唤醒作用;在高工作记忆负荷条件下,分心刺激影响了两组儿童对任务本身的加工过程,使其判断的精确性下降。但是 ADHD 儿童受到的影响更大,表明其过滤分心刺激的能力落后。(2)当分心刺激与目标刺激同时出现时, ADHD儿童受到的干扰最大;但随着二者时间间隔的延长,并没有出现间隔越长干扰效应越小的趋势。在本研究条件下,得出以下结论：(1)两组儿童对跨通道新异分心刺激的过滤受到目标任务的工作记忆负荷强度的影响。(2)适度延长分心刺激与目标刺激之间的时间间隔可能会帮助ADHD的注意回归。     

Children's development of analogical reasoning: insights from scene analogy problems

We explored how relational complexity and featural distraction, as varied in scene analogy problems, affect children's analogical reasoning performance. Results with 3- and 4-year-olds, 6- and 7-year-olds, 9- to 11-year-olds, and 13- and 14-year-olds indicate that when children can identify the critical structural relations in a scene analogy problem, development of their ability to reason analogically interacts with both relational complexity and featural distraction. Error patterns suggest that children are more likely to select a distracting object than to make a relational error for problems that present both possibilities. This tendency decreases with age, and older children make fewer errors overall. The results suggest that changes in analogical reasoning with age depend on the interplay among increases in relational knowledge, the capacity to integrate multiple relations, and inhibitory control over featural distraction.     

Establishing discriminative stimulus control within generalized oddity performance,without reinforcement

In two oddity learning studies with children, subjects were reinforced for oddity (or nonoddity) responding on line-tilt or dot numerosity problems. Interposed form and color problems were not reinforced. No instructions to make oddity choices were given. In Experiment I it was found that reinforcement for oddity or nonoddity responding on tilt and numerosity problems produced the corresponding tendency toward oddity or nonoddity performance on these problems and also on the nonreinforced form and color problems. These results show a generalized oddity phenomenon similar to generalized imitation. In Experiment II a third type of nonreinforced problem was presented in this same format: compound stimuli permitting either a color or a form solution. It was found that immediate prior training with nonreinforced form problems, interpolated among the reinforced tilt and numerosity problems, led to form-oddity choices in the compound problems. Similarily, color pretraining produced color-oddity choices. These results show that selective discriminative stimulus control can be obtained in oddity learning, without reinforcement for choices on either of the two dimensions involved.     

Applying principles of development to help at-risk preschoolers develop numeracy

In a yoked control design, multicultural Head Start 4-year-olds played numerous games involving either numeracy or the oddity principle and insertions into series. Children showed better mastery of oddity and insertions after playing games directed at those two concepts. Numeracy scores on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (D. McCarthy, 1972) were equivalent for children who played numeracy games and children who played oddity and insertion games. These results are consistent with other research indicating that the understanding of oddity relations and that of insertions are key transitional thinking abilities that support numeracy at the preschool-kindergarten interface.     

Causal relations and feature similarity in children's inductive reasoning

Four experiments examined the development of property induction on the basis of causal relations. In the first 2 studies, 5-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and adults were presented with triads in which a target instance was equally similar to 2 inductive bases but shared a causal antecedent feature with 1 of them. All 3 age groups used causal relations as a basis for property induction, although the proportion of causal inferences increased with age. Subsequent experiments pitted causal relations against featural similarity in induction. It was found that adults and 8-year-olds, but not 5-year-olds, preferred shared causal relations over strong featural similarity as a basis for induction. The implications for models of inductive reasoning and development are discussed.     

Switching between spatial stimulus-response mappings: a developmental study of cognitive flexibility

Four different age groups (8-9-year-olds, 11-12-year-olds, 13-15-year-olds and young adults) performed a spatial rule-switch task in which the sorting rule had to be detected on the basis of feedback or on the basis of switch cues. Performance errors were examined on the basis of a recently introduced method of error scoring for the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST; Barcelo & Knight, 2002). This method allowed us to differentiate between errors due to failure-to-maintain-set (distraction errors) and errors due to failure-to-switch-set (perseverative errors). The anticipated age differences in performance errors were most pronounced for perseverative errors between 8-9 years and 11-12 years, but for distraction errors adult levels were not reached until 13-15 years. These findings were interpreted to support the notion that set switching and set maintenance follow distinct developmental trajectories.     

3～4岁儿童基于可信度特质的信任判断:特质间差异和年龄特点

研究采用对偶选择的范式,通过两个实验考察了96名3～4岁儿童基于可信度特质的信任判断。研究同时测量儿童基于可信度特质(能干、友好和诚实)的信任判断能力和针对这些特质的好坏评价能力。结果发现:(1)信任判断的正确率在3种可信度特质间不存在差异。(2)在信任判断之后再进行好坏评价的情况下(实验一),4岁儿童信任判断的正确率高于3岁,在控制好坏评价能力之后,年龄差异依然存在。(3)在信任判断之前先进行好坏评价的情况下(实验二),则信任判断的正确率不存在年龄差异。这些结果表明不是因为好坏评价能力的缺陷,而可能是任务本身较重的认知负荷使得3岁儿童不能像4岁儿童那样自发地依据特质的效价信息进行信任判断。     

3～5岁幼儿基于面孔的信任判断的发展

本研究通过两个实验探讨了262名3~5岁幼儿基于面孔的信任判断能力及其年龄间差异。结果发现:(1)实验1中,当陌生面孔单张呈现时,3岁幼儿还不能正确地区分被成人评价为可信和不可信的面孔,而4、5岁幼儿已经能够基于面孔特征做出与成人基本一致的信任判断;(2)实验2中,当配对呈现可信vs.不可信两张面孔时,3~5岁幼儿都能够在日常交往情境中依据陌生交往者的面孔特征做出与成人基本一致的信任判断,并且随着年龄的增长,信任判断准确率逐步提高。这些结果表明幼儿从3岁开始已经能够基于面孔做出信任判断,随着年龄的增长,信任判断能力逐步发展。     

Responses of preschoolers in two frustrating episodes: emergence of complex strategies for emotion regulation

Although research on young children's abilities to organize emotional states has increased in recent years, little is known about the emergence of complex strategies for emotion regulation in preschoolers. In the present study, emotion-regulation strategies used by 52 normally developing 3- and 4-year-olds were examined. Children and their primary caregivers (50 mothers, 2 fathers) participated in 2 controlled frustration episodes that were videotaped. Four types of strategies were coded: comforting behaviors, instrumental behaviors, distraction behaviors, and cognitive reappraisals. Results indicated that 3-year-olds used proportionately more instrumental strategies than 4-year-olds, and parents of 3-year-olds showed the same pattern, whereas parents of 4-year-olds did not. Moreover, 3-year-olds used a variety of strategies when frustrated, including cognitive reappraisals. Significant positive correlations were found between the types of strategies used by the children and by the parents to help their children. It is suggested that children may be using strategies to organize their emotional states before they are able to accurately report on them.