Overt and Covert Dimensions of Antisocial Behavior in Early Childhood

The present study was designed to assess both the prevalence and structure of antisocial behavior in a normative sample of preschoolers. Prevalence estimates suggested that 40% of preschoolers exhibit at least one antisocial behavior each day. Furthermore, 10% of preschoolers exhibit six or more antisocial behaviors each day. Consistent with research based on older children, factor analyses provided support for conceptualizing antisocial behavior in early childhood as consisting of both overt and covert dimensions. While both overt and covert behaviors had acceptable test–retest reliability, only overt behaviors had acceptable interrater reliability. Finally both overt and covert dimensions of antisocial behavior were uniquely related to general measures of conduct problems, hyperactivity, and adult and peer conflict in the classroom setting. Findings are discussed with regard to early assessment and the developmental course of antisocial behavior.     

外倾个体的自我参照加工程度效应

采用事件相关电位技术和三类刺激的经典oddball范式,以内隐的方式探讨外倾特质个体的自我参照加工程度效应及其神经机制。实验发现,外倾被试的高自我相关名字在各个ERP成分上都比其他刺激诱发了更大波幅。在P2上,高自我相关的刺激比其他刺激诱发了更大的P2波幅和更长的P2潜伏期,其中中线脑区的效应最大。在N2上,高自我相关的刺激比其他刺激诱发了更大的N2波幅和更短的N2潜伏期,其中额区位置的效应最大。控制组被试的高自我相关名字比外倾型被试的高自我相关名字诱发了更大的N2的波幅和更短的N2潜伏期。在P3平均波幅上,高自我相关的刺激比其他刺激诱发了更大的P3波幅,其中中线效应最大。对比外倾型被试,控制组被试的自我参照刺激诱发了更大的P3波幅。研究结果表明外倾特质个体的自我参照加工具有程度效应,但对比控制组被试,外倾特质个体的自我参照加工的程度效应更弱。     

Event-Related Potential and Behavioral Measures of Attention in 5-, 7-, and 9-Year-Olds

In 2 experiments, the development of auditory selective attention in children was assessed. The participants, aged 5, 7, and 9 years, responded to target stimuli in the left ear for 1 series (ignoring the standard stimuli) and in the right ear for the other series. In Experiment 1, event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by the auditory stimuli were recorded from frontal, central, and parietal sites. The 9-year-olds showed a greater processing negativity (Nd) to the attended channel compared with the 5-year-olds. Both 7-and 9-year-olds showed significantly larger amplitudes for the P3 component of ERPs in the attended vs. ignored condition. Behaviorally, the 5-year-olds made fewer hits and more false alarms than did older children, and the 9-year-olds made significantly more false alarms than did the 7-year-olds. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the detriment in the performance of the 9-year-olds was a result of task parameters. The inability of 5-year-olds to attend selectively appears to involve problems with the inhibition of the processing of irrelevant information and with selection of the correct response.     

A comparison of event-related potentials of humans and rats elicited by a serial feature-positive discrimination task

The purpose of this experiment was to compare components of the human and rat auditory event-related potential (ERP) in a serial feature-positive discrimination task. Subjects learned to respond to an auditory target stimulus when it followed a visual feature (X → A+), but to not respond when it was presented alone (A−). Upon solving the task, the N2 component, which has been suggested to reflect the activation of inhibitory processes, was temporarily more negative in response to the target on A− than on X → A+ trials in both species. However, whereas a P3 component was present in the human participants, this component was absent in the rats. In both species, the amplitude of several ERP components, including the N2, decreased in the course of training. These results are discussed in the framework of contemporary models of associative learning.     

心理性应激的时间加工进程:来自ERP的证据*

采用有时间压力的算术题目诱发被试的心理性应激体验,并用事件相关电位技术(ERP)探讨心理性应激发生时大脑神经活动的时程变化。行为数据结果发现有时间压力下被试的反应时更短;脑电数据结果发现有时间压力组的容易题目比无时间压力组的容易题目诱发出更大的N1峰值、更长的P2潜伏期和更大的P300波幅;有时间压力组的困难题目比无时间压力组的困难题目同样诱发出更大的N1峰值、更长的P2潜伏期和更大的P300波幅,但这种组别主效应仅表现在部分电极点上。该研究结果表明心理性应激增加了早期知觉加工的负载,导致知觉加工速度减慢,在信息加工后期阶段需要占用更多的认知资源。     

A threshold theory of the humor response

The humor response has long been considered mysterious, and it is given relatively little attention in modern experimental psychology, in spite of the fact that numerous studies suggest that it has substantial benefits for mood and health. Existing theories of humor fail to account for some of the most basic humor phenomena. On most occasions when a humor response occurs, certain verbal or visual stimuli (the "setup" stimuli, which function as an establishing operation) must precede a critical stimulus (such as a "punch line" or the final panel or critical feature of a cartoon), which then occasions a sudden "revelation" or "understanding"; this revelation is often accompanied by the humor response. We suggest that the setup stimuli increase the strength of the revelatory response to a point just below the threshold of awareness and that the critical stimulus, properly designed and timed, edges the revelatory response to a point just above threshold. We also suggest that it is this threshold phenomenon that produces most instances of the humor response. We discuss these issues in the context of some notable humor of Carl Rogers and B. F. Skinner.     

轻度认知损伤重复效应脑电研究：范式及应用

“语义一致性加重复”范式（congruity-plus-repetition paradigm）在早前重复范式的基础上增加了早期语义情境用以控制重复效应的前期成份N400和后期成份P600之间的相互干扰。作者回顾了这种范式在轻度认知损伤（mild cognitive impairment,MCI）的事件相关电位研究领域的应用,并分析了该范式在MCI的识别及预测其向痴呆转归方面的优越性。提示效应的组合更能标记正常认知老化向痴呆的动态过渡;能产生两个或多个效应组合的实验范式将是该领域未来研究方向之一。     

Time-course of hemispheric preference for processing contralateral relevant shapes: P1pc, N1pc, N2pc, N3pc

A most sensitive and specific electrophysiological indicator of selective processing of visual stimuli is the N2pc component. N2pc is a negative EEG potential peaking 250 ms after stimulus onset, recorded from posterior sites contralateral to relevant stimuli. Additional deflections preceding or following N2pc have been obtained in previous studies, possibly produced by specific stimulus features or specific prime-target sequences. To clarify the entire time-course of the contralateral- ipsilateral (C-I) difference recorded from the scalp above visual cortex in response to left-right pairs of targets and distracters, C-I differences were here compared between two types of stimuli and between stimuli that were or were not preceded by masked neutral primes. The C-I difference waveform consisted of several peaks, termed here P1pc (60-100 ms after target onset), N1pc (120-160 ms), N2pc (220-280 ms), and N3pc (360-400 ms). Being markedly enhanced when stimuli were preceded by the neutral primes, P1pc may indicate a response to stimulus change. Also, when stimuli were primed, N2pc reached its peak earlier, thereby tending to merge with N1pc. N3pc seemed to increase when target discrimination was difficult. N1pc, N2pc, and N3pc appear as three periods of one process. N3pc probably corresponds to L400 or SPCN as described in other studies. These observations suggest that the neurophysiological basis of stimulus-driven focusing of attention on target stimuli is a process that lasts for hundreds of milliseconds, with the relevant hemisphere being activated in an oscillating manner as long as required by the task.     

内隐多效性选择的ERP证据

采用事件相关电位技术,考察内隐多效性选择及其神经机制。被试的任务是认真观看配对的纯色图片刺激,并进行分类按键反应。实验结果发现,在P2上,积极启动刺激比对照刺激激发了更大的P2波幅; 对比对照刺激,积极启动刺激在左脑、大脑中部和后脑诱发了更大的P2波幅,其中右脑的效应最大。在N2上,积极启动刺激比对照刺激激发了更小的N2波幅; 对比对照刺激,积极启动刺激在左脑、大脑中部和后脑诱发了更小的N2波幅,其中右脑的效应最大。在P3上,积极启动刺激比对照刺激激发了更大的P3波幅; 对比对照刺激,积极启动刺激在左脑、大脑中部和后脑诱发了更大的P3波幅,其中右脑的效应最大。研究结果表明当外显目标与内隐目标同时被呈现时,被试趋向于做多效性选择,这可能表明无意识信息加工具有相当大的权重。且右后部脑区可能是加工多效性刺激的核心和关键区域,P3成分可能反应了内隐多效性选择的精细加工过程,能够作为内隐多效性选择的有效的ERPs指标。     

自然数码奇象记忆法记忆复杂数字的神经机制

本研究采用学习-再认范式和复杂数字记忆材料,考察自然数码奇象记忆法相对于机械记忆法在记忆提取上的优势及神经机制。行为结果表明,自然数码奇象记忆法比机械记忆法的再认准确率更高。事件相关电位分析结果显示,再认提取阶段奇象记忆条件下诱发的N400和N700波幅显著更低,这说明奇象记忆提取更容易。在自然数码奇象记忆条件下,正确再认旧数字诱发的前额区、左顶枕叶区及中顶枕叶区N700成分与使用自然数码奇象记忆有关。本研究表明,采用自然数码奇象记忆可以减少或跨越语义加工,从而提高个体对材料的记忆效率。     

内倾特质个体的自我参照加工程度效应

采用事件相关电位技术和三类刺激的经典oddball范式,以内隐的方式探讨内倾特质个体的自我参照加工程度效应及其神经机制。实验发现,在P2的波幅上,在电极前部、前中部和中部位置高自我相关的刺激比其它刺激诱发了更大的P2波幅。在P2的潜伏期上,在电极前部、中部、和中后部位置高自我相关的刺激比其它刺激诱发了更短的潜伏期。在N2的波幅上,高自我相关名字比其它刺激在左脑所诱发了更大的P2的波幅;对比内倾型被试,中间型被试的高自我相关名字比其它刺激诱发了更大的N2的波幅。在N2的潜伏期上,高自我相关的刺激在全脑都比其它刺激诱发了更短的N2潜伏期,且中后部电极位置的潜伏期最短;两类人格被试的高自我相关名字比其它刺激诱发了更短的N2潜伏期,但中间型人格被试的潜伏期最短。在P3平均波幅上,高自我相关的刺激在全脑都比其它刺激诱发了更大的P3波幅,其中中部脑区效应最大。研究结果表明内倾特质个体的自我参照加工具有程度效应,但对比中间型个体,内倾特质个体的自我参照加工的程度效应更弱。     

Efficiency of visual information processing in children at-risk for dyslexia: habituation of single-trial ERPs

To investigate underlying learning mechanisms in relation to the development of dyslexia, event-related potentials to visual standards were recorded in five-year-old pre-reading children at-risk for familial dyslexia (n=24) and their controls (n=14). At the end of second grade the children aged 8 years were regrouped into three groups according to literacy level and risk factor. Single-trial analyses revealed N1 habituation in the normal-reading controls, but not in the normal-reading at-risks, and a N1 amplitude increase in the group of poor-reading at-risks and poor-reading controls. No P3 habituation was found in either group. The normal-reading at-risk group exhibited the longest N1 and P3 latencies, possibly compensating for their reduced neuronal activity during initial information extraction. In contrast, the poor-reading group only showed prolonged P3, and their increase in (initial small) N1 amplitude together with normal N1 latencies, suggests inefficient processing in an early time window, which might explain automatisation difficulties in dyslexic readers.     

The effects of music exposure and own genre preference on conscious and unconscious cognitive processes: a pilot ERP study

Did Beethoven and Mozart have more in common with each other than Clapton and Hendrix? The current research demonstrated the widely reported Mozart Effect as only partly significant. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 16 professional classical and rock musicians during a standard 2 stimulus visual oddball task, while listening to classical and rock music. During the oddball task participants were required to discriminate between an infrequent target stimulus randomly embedded in a train of repetitive background or standard stimuli. Consistent with previous research, the P3 and N2 ERPs were elicited in response to the infrequent target stimuli. Own genre preference resulted in a reduction in amplitude of the P3 for classical musicians exposed to classical music and rock musicians exposed to rock music. Notably, at the pre-attentive stage of processing (N2) beneficial effects of exposure to classical music were observed for both groups of musicians. These data are discussed in terms of short and long-term music benefits on both conscious and unconscious cognitive processes.