长期高策略性技能训练对运动员大脑白质结构的影响：一项DTI研究

目前关于运动员经验优势的脑机制还存在争议, 尤其对于涉及较多认知过程参与的高策略性技能项目运动员, 其大脑白质结构可塑性变化还需进一步探究。研究横向对比了乒乓球运动员和非运动员大脑白质纤维束的弥散张量成像数据。结果发现, 相比于非运动员, 乒乓球运动员在连接背侧和腹侧通路脑区的双侧皮质脊髓束、左侧上纵束、左侧下纵束和双侧额枕下束的各向异性值(FA)更大, 进一步分析发现, 部分腹侧通路白质纤维束FA增加的原因是径向扩散系数(RD)下降。研究结果支持了动作双通路模型。提示经过长期高策略性技能训练, 乒乓球运动员在背侧和腹侧通路上的白质纤维束结构完整性增强。     

Personality differences between online game players and nonplayers in a student sample.

This study examines the differences in openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion between online game players and nonplayers using a student sample. The matched sample comprised 130 pairs of students, who are paired in gender and age. The results indicate that online game players reported higher scores in openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion than did nonplayers.     

Children and adolescents coordinate group and moral concerns within different goal contexts when allocating resources

Coordinating complex social and moral concerns when allocating resources is a key issue in late childhood and early adolescence. This study explored resource allocation in three goal contexts that required children to focus to differing degrees on moral and group concerns. Children (9–11-years, M^age = 9.84, n = 190) and adolescents (14–16-years, M^age = 14.92, n = 154) were informed their school peer group held an in-group norm (competition, cooperation). Participants allocated resources between their in-group and an outgroup within one of three goal contexts (prosocial, learning-focused, and group-focused). Participants allocated in favour of their in-group to achieve a prosocial goal but attenuated this when the goal was focused on learning and cooperation. Adolescents, more than children, reasoned about the goals of resource allocation to justify their decisions. From 9 years old, children begin to coordinate peer group norms and goal information when deciding how to allocate resources within intergroup contexts.     

Hand movements reveal the time-course of shape and pigmentation processing in face categorization

Although the roles of shape and pigmentation cues in face categorization have been studied in detail, the time-course of their processing has remained elusive. We measured participants’ hand movements via the computer mouse en route to male or female responses (gender task) or young or old responses (age task) on the screen. Participants were presented with male and female faces (gender task) or with young and old faces (age task) that were typical, shape-atypical, or pigmentation-atypical. Before settling into correct categorizations, the processing of atypical cues led hand trajectories to deviate toward the opposite gender or age category. A temporal analysis of these trajectory deviations revealed dissociable dynamics in shape and pigmentation processing. Pigmentation had a privileged, early role during gender categorization, preceding shape effects by approximately 50 ms and preceding pigmentation effects in age categorization by 100 ms. In age categorization, however, pigmentation had a simultaneous onset of influence as shape. It also had a more dominant influence than shape throughout the gender and age categorization process. The results reveal the time-course of shape and pigmentation processing in gender and age categorization.     

A developmental perspective on decision making in young soccer players: The role of executive functions

Lately, interest in both domain-specific and domain-general cognitive processes has increased as a means to explain soccer player expertise. While the two types of processes have mostly been studied separately, we sought to connect these lines of research by investigating the role of executive functions in soccer players’ decision making from a developmental perspective. As these cognitive processes as well as their relation might differ between age groups, we took a developmental perspective to better understand this link in a sample of N = 128 soccer players (M_age = 10.69 years, SD = 1.44). Two age groups (younger vs. older players) performed a video-based option-generation and decision-making task that used temporal occlusion. Additionally, executive functions were assessed with standardized computer-based tests. Results show a link between executive functions and sport-specific decision making, most prominent for working memory. Further, older players generated better options and showed better inhibition and cognitive flexibility than younger players. We suggest there is a crucial turning point in cognitive development around the age of 11 years.     

Assessing the restorative value of the environment: A study on the elderly in comparison with young adults and adolescents

Nature is not only appreciated for its aesthetic characteristics, but is also a useful resource for people. It plays an important role in the process of attention restoration and recovery from stress. Young adults and adolescents assess natural environments as being more restorative than built environments. This study sought to test whether natural environments are more restorative than built environments for the elderly as well. The study is made up of two phases: (1) an empirical study with the elderly, (2) a comparison of data from the elderly with two earlier studies of adolescents and young adults. To achieve this aim a group of 50 elderly people (age range: 62–93 years) was asked to rate the restorative value of 10 pictures of environments ranging from natural to built, covering 5 environmental categories: housing, industrial zone, city streets, hills, and lakes. Each picture was assessed using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. Participants were from three living situations: elderly living in a place for old people located in a green area (N = 18), elderly living in a place for old people located in an urban area (N = 20), and elderly living in their own homes (N = 12). Results showed that all three groups of the elderly evaluated the natural environments as more restorative than the built environments. The elderly data were then compared with the data from a sample of adolescents (N = 60, age range: 11–14 years) and of young adults (N = 100, age range: 18–29 years). All three groups rated natural environments as more restorative than built environments. The evaluation of preference and familiarity, however, differed between age groups, with adolescence being less familiar with and less in favour of natural environments than young adults and the elderly. Restorativeness and preference were correlated among all age groups, while familiarity and restorativeness were correlated only among the elderly.     

Perceptual-cognitive performance of youth soccer players in a 360°-environment – Differences between age groups and performance levels

IntroductionAn important requirement for soccer players is the accurate and rapid processing of dynamic and complex visual scenes. Therefore, in high-level youth soccer the players’ perceptual-cognitive skills are highly relevant from a scientific and practical point of view. The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in perceptual-cognitive performance between youth soccer players of different age groups and soccer performance levels in a dynamic 360°-environment.MethodsIn a sample of 292 elite and sub-elite youth soccer players from the age groups U12–U23, perceptual-cognitive skills were assessed using a 360°-multiple object tracking task. An 8 × 2 (age group x performance level) analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine the effects of age group and soccer performance level on performance in the task.ResultsThe analyses revealed a significant main effect of age group. Post hoc analyses showed that youth players belonging to the older age groups (U16, U17, U19, and U23) performed significantly better in the 360°-multiple object tracking task than players of the youngest age group (U12). Yet no significant age-related differences could be found from age group U16 on. Furthermore, there was a significant effect of soccer performance level on the 360°-multiple object tracking performance in favor of the elite players. Significant differences between elite and sub-elite players within the same age group were only present in the highest age groups U19 and U23.ConclusionsThe results suggest that in a dynamic 360°-environment highly talented youth soccer players show better perceptual-cognitive performance with increasing age. Furthermore, elite youth players exhibit distinctive perceptual-cognitive abilities particularly at the highest age groups. These findings provide interesting implications for science and practice regarding the perceptual-cognitive skills of talented soccer players and their role in talent development.     

When the internet is wrong: Children’s trust in an inaccurate internet or human source

Prior studies have shown that children can select and evaluate information based on the previous accuracy of an informant. The current study examines how 5- to 6-year-old kindergarteners (N = 46) and 7- to 8-year-old second-graders (N = 48) in China judge scientific information provided by the internet or a teacher, and how a source's history of inaccuracy influences participants’ judgments. When lacking explicit information about previous accuracy, neither younger children nor older children showed differential trust in the internet or a teacher. After observing the internet providing inaccurate information, children in both age groups decreased their trust in statements from the internet. When the teacher was consistently inaccurate, children in both age groups also showed reduced preference for the teacher's statements. These findings demonstrate that 5- to 8-year-old children take into account history of inaccuracy when deciding whether to request or endorse information from the internet or a teacher.     

Altered lateralization of dorsal language tracts in 6‐week‐old infants at risk for autism

Altered structural connectivity has been identified as a possible biomarker of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk in the developing brain. Core features of ASD include impaired social communication and early language delay. Thus, examining white matter tracts associated with language may lend further insight into early signs of ASD risk and the mechanisms that underlie language impairments associated with the disorder. Evidence of altered structural connectivity has previously been detected in 6‐month‐old infants at high familial risk for developing ASD. However, as language processing begins in utero, differences in structural connectivity between language regions may be present in the early infant brain shortly after birth. Here we investigated key white matter pathways of the dorsal language network in 6‐week‐old infants at high (HR) and low (LR) risk for ASD to identify atypicalities in structural connectivity that may predict altered developmental trajectories prior to overt language delays and the onset of ASD symptomatology. Compared to HR infants, LR infants showed higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF); in contrast, in the right SLF, HR infants showed higher FA than LR infants. Additionally, HR infants showed more rightward lateralization of the SLF. Across both groups, measures of FA and lateralization of these pathways at 6 weeks of age were related to later language development at 18 months of age as well as ASD symptomatology at 36 months of age. These findings indicate that early differences in the structure of language pathways may provide an early predictor of future language development and ASD risk.     

Holistic processing for faces and cars in preschool‐aged children and adults: evidence from the composite effect

The current study compared the development of holistic processing for faces and non‐face visual objects by testing for the composite effect for faces and frontal images of cars in 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children and adults in a series of four experiments using a two‐alternative forced‐choice recognition task. Results showed that a composite effect for faces was present as early as years, and none of the age groups tested showed signs of a composite effect for cars. These findings provide the first demonstration that holistic processing is already selective for faces in early childhood, and confirm existing evidence that sensitivity to holistic information in faces does not increase from 4 years to adulthood.     

‘Chasing' in gambling behavior: personality and cognitive determinants

The phenomenon of ‘chasing' has been identified as one of the central characteristics of the behavior of pathological gamblers [American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., DSM IV). Washington, DC: APA]. It consists of more frequent involvement, increased persistence and elevated monetary risk in an effort to recoup money that has been lost. The present research makes a distinction between within- and between-session chasing, and attempts to examine the determinants of within-session chasing in a reasonably valid laboratory analogue. Male college students who gambled (N=248) were given US$10 and an opportunity to gamble. They could: (1) decline to gamble and keep their US$10 (nonplayers); (2) gamble and win even more money by quitting at a more optimal time (nonchasers); or (3) gamble longer than they should, resulting in the loss of all available money (chasers). Zuckerman's impulsivity factor (from the ZKPQ) discriminated chasers from nonchasers. Breen and Zuckerman's Gambling Beliefs and Attitudes Survey (GABS) discriminated players from nonplayers. A sensation-seeking explanation of within-session chasing was not supported. The results are discussed in terms of the impact of impulsivity on within-session chasing. It is suggested that the GABS may serve as a general measure of ‘affinity' to gambling, and could be useful in examining the process of between-session chasing, that is, returning on another day to ‘get even'.     

Whose picture is this? Children's memory for item and source information

Children aged 3½ to 6½ years viewed pictures of common objects presented either once or three times on one of two consecutive days. A different hand puppet was used to present the pictures on each day, providing both perceptual and temporal cues to source. At test, old (studied) and new (non‐studied) pictures were presented for item recognition and source identification. Results showed that both item and source accuracy were higher for older (M = 5; 9 years) than younger children (M = 4; 6 years). Significant interactions between Age and Day of study were found for both item and source accuracy. For younger children, accuracy was higher for pictures studied on Day 1 than Day 2 (significant for source identification but not item recognition), whereas older children showed the opposite pattern: Higher accuracy for Day 2 than Day 1 (significant for item recognition but not source identification). Results are interpreted with respect to proactive interference and response bias. The utility of signal detection theory measures in determining the basis of age differences in performance of source identification is discussed.     

Perceived self-efficacy by Under-10 tennis players when scaling the equipment and play area

The modification of child-sports aims to develop an optimal learning environment that facilitates the emergence of desirable psychological outcomes (e.g., self-efficacy). The aim of the study was to assess the effect of reducing net height and court size on self-efficacy and shot-efficacy of U-10 tennis players in a real-game context. Twenty U-10 tennis players (M = 9.46, SD = 0.66 years of age; M = 3.65, SD = 1.53 years of tennis experience) played two round-robin tournaments one week apart in the same order and schedule. The first tournament was played under the International Tennis Federation’s Tennis 10s regulation at green stage (GT). Afterwards, the modified tournament (MT) was played with the same regulation GT, however, net height (0.91 m–0.80 m) and court size (23.77 m × 8.23 m–18.00 m × 8.23 m) were reduced. Results accomplished using Bayesian and Frequentist inferences showed an increase in players’ self-efficacy when serving in MT than GT (BF₁₀ = 4.796; δ = −0.576; and p = .011). This is increase may be due to a reduction in their serving faults in MT (BF₁₀ = 6.169; δ = −0.591; and p = .010). Therefore, reducing net height and court size enhances the serve performance and self-efficacy and thus promotes positive tennis experiences.     

Cross‐cultural study on adult age‐group differences in the recall of the literal and interpretive meanings of narrative text1

Abstract: This study examined cultural and age differences in the recall of the literal and interpretive meanings of narrative text. Twenty Japanese younger adults (age: M = 21.05, SD = 1.02), 20 Japanese older adults (age: M = 66.95, SD = 1.71), 20 American younger adults (age M = 21.7, SD = 1.76), and 16 American older adults (age M = 69.56, SD = 3.43) participated in this study. One story rich in both literal and interpretive content was used as a stimulus text for two recall tasks, to retell and interpret the story. The response task order was counterbalanced across the participants for each group. When asked to retell a story as close to the original as possible, the younger adults in both of the two cultural groups recalled more of the literal propositions than did the older adults. Both older and younger adults in the two cultural groups recalled more of the main ideas relative to the details; however, when asked to interpret the same story, more older than younger adults represented deep and synthetic representations of the story's interpretive meanings in the Japanese group. The interpretive responses by both the older and younger adults were almost to the same extent on depth; however, the younger adults’ responses were slightly higher on synthesis in the American group. These interpretive patterns stem from cultural background.     

Motivational climate,psychological needs,and personal and social responsibility in youth soccer: Comparisons by age group and competitive level

ObjectivesWe used a developmental lens to examine age group and competitive level differences on motivational climate dimensions, psychological needs satisfaction, and personal and social responsibility as well as relationships among variables, in line with basic psychological needs theory.DesignWe used a cross-sectional, correlational design.MethodGirls and boys age 8–13 on recreational and select soccer teams completed a survey.ResultsA 2 × 2 MANOVA showed main effects for age group and competitive level: early adolescents reported greater punishment for mistakes and autonomy compared to children; select players reported greater mastery climate dimensions and personal responsibility compared to recreational players. For all groups, path analyses revealed perceptions of cooperative learning were indirectly associated with personal and social responsibility, through coach and/or teammate relatedness.ConclusionsPatterns of relationships by age group and competitive level are discussed in reference to developmental literature. Results highlight the value of using a developmental approach to understand how coaches can promote youth soccer players’ psychological and social well-being.     

Association of prenatal attachment and early childhood emotional,behavioral, and developmental characteristics: A longitudinal study

This study examines the associations between prenatal attachment and child development, socioemotional behavioral problems, and competence at early childhood. It also inquires whether maternal depression and anxiety at the prenatal period and at early childhood are associated with child outcomes. The study consisted of 83 mothers and their children. Data regarding the prenatal attachment, depression, and anxiety were collected during Weeks 28 to 40 of gestation. When the children were 21 to 31 months old, the Brief Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) and the Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory (ADSI) were applied to children along with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) administered to mothers. Results showed that prenatal attachment scores significantly correlated with BITSEA-Competency subscale scores and ADSI total scores at early childhood, r(83) = 0.246, P = .025, and r(82) = 0.316, P = .004, respectively. Prenatal attachment levels were found to be the predictors of both behavioral and emotional competence and development at early childhood, b = 0.081, t(83) = 2.273, P = .014, and b = 0.281, t(83) = 3.225, P = .002, respectively. In addition, prenatal attachment was shown to be even a stronger predictor of development than was worsening maternal depression at early childhood, b = −0.319, t(83) = 2.140, P = .035. Our results indicate that fostering prenatal attachment may be beneficial for better infant outcomes at early childhood.     

Developmental trends in auditory processing can provide early predictions of language acquisition in young infants

Auditory processing capabilities at the subcortical level have been hypothesized to impact an individual's development of both language and reading abilities. The present study examined whether auditory processing capabilities relate to language development in healthy 9‐month‐old infants. Participants were 71 infants (31 boys and 40 girls) with both Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) and language assessments. At 6 weeks and/or 9 months of age, the infants underwent ABR testing using both a standard hearing screening protocol with 30 dB clicks and a second protocol using click pairs separated by 8, 16, and 64‐ms intervals presented at 80 dB. We evaluated the effects of interval duration on ABR latency and amplitude elicited by the second click. At 9 months, language development was assessed via parent report on the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory ‐ Putonghua version (CCDI‐P). Wave V latency z‐scores of the 64‐ms condition at 6 weeks showed strong direct relationships with Wave V latency in the same condition at 9 months. More importantly, shorter Wave V latencies at 9 months showed strong relationships with the CCDI‐P composite consisting of phrases understood, gestures, and words produced. Likewise, infants who had greater decreases in Wave V latencies from 6 weeks to 9 months had higher CCDI‐P composite scores. Females had higher language development scores and shorter Wave V latencies at both ages than males. Interestingly, when the ABR Wave V latencies at both ages were taken into account, the direct effects of gender on language disappeared. In conclusion, these results support the importance of low‐level auditory processing capabilities for early language acquisition in a population of typically developing young infants. Moreover, the auditory brainstem response in this paradigm shows promise as an electrophysiological marker to predict individual differences in language development in young children.     

Early information processing among infants with and without spina bifida

This study focuses on the development of early visual information processing among infants with spina bifida (SB) compared to typically developing infants using the habituation–dishabituation paradigm. Analyses were conducted in two stages. First infants were evaluated to determine if 18-month old infants (SB = 47; Control = 40) differed in their ability to shift attention and habituate to two female faces, as well as their responses to composite and novel stimuli. Second, relations between these variables and infant motor and mental functioning were evaluated. The results of the study indicated that difficulties with visual attention skills can be detected as early as 18 months of age among infants with SB. Infants with SB differed significantly from controls on attention getting. Although there were no differences found on habituation and composite tasks, infants with SB differed significantly from controls on their ability to dishabituate. Implications are discussed.     

Stroop-like interference in chess players' imagery: An unexplored possibility to be revealed by the adapted moving-spot task

Summary A group of highly skilled chess players and two control groups of subjects (nonskilled players and nonplayers) participated in a moving-spot task (cf. Attneave & Curlee, 1983). They had to move either a spot or one of several chess pieces within an imaginary grid according to instructions given by the experimenter (the imaginary motion of the imaginary object consisted of a quasirandom sequence of steps in the direction — up, right, left, or down). The general findings were as follows: (1) chess players' error rates were lower than those in the nonplayer group; (2) in a moving-spot condition there were no significant differences in the efficiency of skilled vs. nonskilled player groups; (3) in a moving chess-piece condition, ranges of spatial errors differed for chess-player and nonplayer groups, depending on the symbolic meaning of the chess pieces in the former group; (4) in a moving chess-piece condition we also found tendencies for Stroop-like interference in the group of skilled players (e. g., bishop moving illegally up, right, etc.); (5) all groups benefitted from the use of a checkerboard instead of an 8 × 8 grid as the imaginary spatial framework within which to move a piece; (6) thepost hoc analysis showed that the two small selected subgroups of subjects comprising those who used either pure visual strategy or pure chess-annotation strategy were susceptible to some Stroop-like interference and that the set of pieces with the highest incongruity of moves (bishop, knight) yielded higher error rates than the set of pieces that had congruity of moves (king, rook). Taken together, these results seem to indicate that visuospatial tasks like Attneave and Curlee's (1983) moving-spot task are performed neither on the basis of a static picture-in-the-head type of visual image, for which it is just the same whether one or another type of piece is imaginarily moved, nor on the basis of purely symbolic or propositional operations that bear no relation to the visual-configurational and spatial-localizational representations. Imagery seems to constitute a dynamicprocess of interplay between visuospatial and verbal-propositional codes.     

Cognitive abilities and personality traits in old age across four years: More stability than change

The current study (N = 236) examined stability and change of six cognitive abilities and three personality traits in old age (M = 74.12 years, SD = 4.40) over four years. Furthermore, we investigated whether levels of one domain were related to the other domain (and vice versa) four years later. The results showed a mean–level decline for processing speed and a mean–level increase for neuroticism. Cross–lagged effects indicated that reasoning was related to openness and conscientiousness was related to verbal knowledge four years later. In general, few and weak associations between the two domains were found. The findings showed that the development of cognitive abilities and personality traits in old age is marked more by stability than by change.