抑制控制在类比映射发展中的作用:认知负荷的影响

本研究采用负启动范式,设置不同的认知负荷任务,探究抑制控制在儿童和成人类比映射中的作用。实验一中,31名7岁儿童、33名10岁儿童和34名成人完成高认知负荷的相对大小类比映射的负启动任务。结果表明,所有群体均出现负启动效应,且负启动效应随年龄增长而减小。实验二中,30名7岁儿童、30名10岁儿童和32名成人完成低认知负荷的相对大小类比映射的负启动任务。结果表明,所有群体均出现负启动效应,但负启动效应无显著年龄差异。本研究的结果揭示了抑制控制和认知负荷在类比映射发展中的重要作用。     

主动性和反应性认知控制的权衡机制及影响因素

主动性控制和反应性控制是认知控制研究的新视角。前者通过在反应前维持目标相关信息的表征来预防冲突, 后者在反应时重激活目标相关信息以解决冲突。个体能够在这两种认知控制间进行权衡从而形成最优反应。通过AX-CPT等实验范式, 辅以ERP、fMRI技术可分离两种认知控制, 并观察到认知控制相关的脑区在激活时间和强度上的差异。个体生理发展、认知因素(期望、流体智力、训练)、非认知因素(情绪、动机等)均能影响认知控制的权衡。未来的研究应多关注这一权衡的内在神经机制和认知机制, 并与传统认知控制研究相结合, 在理论和应用上取得更进一步的发展。     

Hemispheric activation increases positive manifold for lateralized cognitive tasks: an extension of Stankov's hypothesis

Stankov (1983a, Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 471-490) suggests that the dual task paradigm, requiring the division of attention, increases positive manifold (i.e., positive intercorrelations) for cognitive tasks relative to the single task paradigm. Two dual task studies are reported. Unimanual finger-tapping served as the primary task and the short-term retention (20 sec) of digit or spatial-location sequences served as the secondary tasks. When both tasks were lateralized to the same hemisphere (digits and right-hand tapping or spatial locations and left-hand tapping), highest memory task intercorrelations (Experiment 1) and better retention of sequences (Experiments 1 and 2) resulted. Left-hand tapping produced more leftward looking and right-hand tapping more rightward looking (Experiment 2). Overflow from lateralized finger-tapping may shift the gradient of attentional activation toward the contralateral hemisphere, producing the homolateral gaze direction, the increase in positive manifold, and the better retention of sequences lateralized to that hemisphere.     

Separating past and future autobiographical events in memory: Evidence for a reality monitoring asymmetry

After thinking about the past and imagining the future, how do people separate these real and imagined events in memory? We had subjects engage in past and future autobiographical elaboration, then later take memory tests that required them to recollect these earlier generated events. In Experiment 1, testing memory for previously generated past or future autobiographical events led to fewer source memory confusions than did an elaborative control task, suggesting that the distinctive features of autobiographical elaboration improved subsequent retrieval monitoring accuracy. In Experiment 2, we directly compared retrieval monitoring accuracy for previously generated past and future autobiographical events and found that subjects made fewer source confusions when searching memory for future events. This asymmetry suggests that the features characterizing future elaborations (e.g., cognitive operations) were used more effectively during reality monitoring than were the features characterizing past elaborations (e.g., perceptual details), and has implications for future-oriented theories of memory.     

The intention interference effect

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which color-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do-the-Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore-the-Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an IIE suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load.     

FMRI of two measures of phonological processing in visual word recognition: ecological validity matters

Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the role of phonological processing by utilizing nonword rhyming decision tasks (e.g., Pugh et al., 1996). Although such tasks clearly engage phonological components of visual word recognition, it is clear that decision tasks are more cognitively involved than the simple overt naming tasks, which more closely map onto normal reading behavior. Our research aim for this study was to examine the advantages of overt naming tasks for fMRI studies of word recognition processes. Process models are presented to highlight the similarities and differences between two cognitive tasks that are used in the word recognition literature, pseudohomophone naming (e.g., pronounce BRANE) and rhyming decision (e.g., do LEAT and JEAT rhyme?). An fMRI study identified several differences in cortical activation associated with the differences observed in the process models. Specifically, the results show that the overt naming task involved the insular cortex and inferior frontal gyrus, whereas the rhyming decision task engaged the temporal-parietal regions. It is argued that future fMRI research examining the neuroanatomical components of basic visual word recognition utilize overt naming tasks.     

语言转换对非熟练双语者不同认知控制成分的即时影响

语言转换情境是否影响非熟练双语者的认知控制存在争议。实验1和实验2分别采用不同的实验范式探讨语言转换对非熟练双语者的认知控制是否会有即时的影响, 以及对不同认知控制成分的影响是否会有不同。结果表明, 语言转换情境能够即时地促进反应抑制, 阻碍干扰抑制, 但对认知灵活性没有影响, 同时说明了反应抑制、干扰抑制和认知灵活性属于3种不同的认知成分, 其内在作用机制不同。此外, 研究结果还进一步说明了双语者的认知控制优势是双语者长期双语使用的结果, 为双语优势的内在机制提供了实验支持。     

Post-error slowing is influenced by cognitive control demand

Post-error slowing (PES) has been shown to reflect a control failure due to automatic attentional capture by the error. Here we aimed to assess whether PES also involves an increase in cognitive control. Using a cued-task-switching paradigm (Experiment 1) and a Stroop task (Experiment 2), the demand for top down control was manipulated. In Experiment 1, one group received dimension cues indicating the relevant stimulus dimension (e.g., “number”) without specifying the response-category-to-key mapping, hence requiring considerable top down control. Another group was shown mapping cues providing information regarding both the relevant task identity and its category-to-key mapping (e.g., “one three”), requiring less top down control, and the last group received both types of cues, intermixed. In Experiment 2, one group performed a pure incongruent Stroop condition (name ink color of incongruent color names, high control demand), and another group received a pure neutral Stroop condition (name color patches, low control demand). In Experiment 2a, participants received the two conditions, intermixed. A larger PES was observed with dimension cues as compared with mapping cues, and with incongruent Stroop stimuli as compared to neutral stimuli, but not when the conditions were intermixed. These findings reveal that PES is influenced by the control demands that characterize the given block-wide experimental context and show that proactive cognitive control is involved in PES.     

The preparation effect in task switching: Carryover of SOA

A common finding in task-switching studies is switch preparation (commonly known as the preparation effect), in which a longer interval between task cue and trial stimulus (i.e., a longer stimulus onset asynchrony, or SOA) reduces the cost of switching to a different task. Three experiments link switch preparation to within-subjects manipulations of SOA. In Experiment 1, SOA was randomized within subjects, producing switch preparation that was more pronounced when the SOA switched from the previous trial than when the SOA repeated. In Experiment 2, SOA was blocked within subjects, producing switch preparation but not on the first block of trials. In Experiment 3, SOA was manipulated between subjects with sufficient statistical power to detect switch preparation, but the effect was absent. The results favor an encoding view of cognitive control, but show that any putative switching mechanism reacts lazily when exposed to only one SOA.     

Look into my eyes: Gaze direction and person memory

The current research considered the effects of gaze direction on a fundamental aspect of social cogition: person memory. It was anticipated that a person's direction of gaze (i.e., direct or averted) would impact his or her subsequent memorability, such that recognition would be enhanced for targets previously displaying direct gaze. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with faces displaying either direct or averted gaze in a person‐classification (i.e., conceptual) task. Then, in a surprise memory test, they were required to report whether a presented face had been seen before. As expected, a recognition advantage was observed for targets displaying direct gaze during the initial classification task. This finding was replicated and extended in a second experiment in which participants initially reported the spatial location (i.e., perceptual task) of each face. We consider the implications of these findings for basic aspects of social‐cognitive functioning and person perception.     

Multi-tasking deteriorates trunk movement control during and after obstacle avoidance

Dynamic and cognitive multi-tasking might affect balance and walking negatively and increase risk of falling. Trunk movement control is critical for balance maintenance and fall-prevention. The impact of multi-tasking on trunk movement control has not been thoroughly studied. In a challenging dynamic multi-tasking condition such as walking and obstacle avoidance, presence of a cognitive task not only increases risk of tripping but also may increase risk of falling by deteriorating trunk control. Our objective was to investigate the impacts of a challenging dynamic and cognitive multi-tasking condition (walking + obstacle avoidance + cognitive task) on trunk kinematics and kinetics and compare those with other joints/segments. Trunk, pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle kinematics and kinetics of 12 young adults were compared between joints/segments and conditions. During walking and obstacle avoidance (dynamic multi-tasking), the trunk had the largest normalized increase in peak flexion angle and extension torque compared to walking, among the other joints/segments. The presence of a cognitive task during walking and obstacle avoidance (dynamic and cognitive multi-tasking) did not impact any of the joints/segments biomechanics except the trunk peak extension torque that was increased. Furthermore, trunk kinematics showed the largest residual differences (post-effects) in 3 cycles after obstacle avoidance compared to walking. The presence of a cognitive task (dynamic and cognitive multi-tasking) did not impact the post-effects of obstacle avoidance on any joints/segments except the trunk with its residual difference from normal walking further increased. These results suggest that a cognitive task deteriorates trunk control and interferes with the ability to regain normal trunk biomechanics after obstacle avoidance. In summary, the trunk requires the largest biomechanical adjustments in a challenging dynamic and cognitive multi-tasking condition where there is a risk of falling. Our study provides baseline results suggesting that trunk control demands more attention and is more negatively affected by dynamic and cognitive multi-tasking. Our results raise a concern for elderly population as their trunk control is already impaired and common daily multi-tasking could further deteriorate their trunk control and increase fall risk.     

Performance costs when emotion tunes inappropriate cognitive abilities: implications for mental resources and behavior

Emotion tunes cognition, such that approach-motivated positive states promote verbal cognition, whereas withdrawal-motivated negative states promote spatial cognition (Gray, 2001). The current research examined whether self-control resources become depleted and influence subsequent behavior when emotion tunes an inappropriate cognitive tendency. In 2 experiments, either an approach-motivated positive state or a withdrawal-motivated negative state was induced, and then participants completed a verbal or a spatial working memory task creating conditions of emotion-cognition alignment (e.g., approach/verbal) or misalignment (e.g., approach/spatial). A control condition was also included. To examine behavioral costs due to depleted self-control resources, participants completed either a Stroop task (Stroop, 1935; Experiment 1) or a Black/White implicit association test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998; Experiment 2). Participants in the misalignment conditions performed worse on the Stroop task, and they were worse at controlling their implicit attitude biases on the IAT. Thus, when emotion tunes inappropriate cognitive tendencies for one's current environment, self-control resources become depleted, impairing behavioral control.     

Event-related potential evidence for multiple causes of the revelation effect

Asking people to discover the identity of a recognition test probe immediately before making a recognition judgment increases the probability of an old judgment. To inform theories of this "revelation effect," event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for revealed and intact test items across two experiments. In Experiment 1, we used a revelation effect paradigm where half of the test probes were presented as anagrams (i.e., a related task) and the other items were presented intact. The pattern of ERP results from this experiment suggested that revealing an item decreases initial familiarity levels and caused the revealed items to elicit similar levels of activity. In Experiment 2, half of the probes were preceded by an addition task (i.e., an unrelated task). The pattern of ERP effects in this study were distinct from those observed in Experiment 1. More specifically, revealed item ERPs were more negative than intact ERPs at frontal electrodes and more positive at parietal electrodes early in the interval. Later in the epoch, revealed item ERPs were more negative than intact items. These data suggest that related tasks decrease familiarity and alter the signal-to-noise ratio of old and new items, whereas unrelated tasks affect processing in a different way (perhaps by changing decision processes) that also results in the revelation effect. The implications for current theories of the revelation effect are discussed.     

The neural effect of stimulus-response modality compatibility on dual-task performance: an fMRI study

Recent fMRI studies suggest that the inferior frontal sulcus (IFS) is involved in the coordination of interfering processes in dual-task situations. The present study aims to further specify this assumption by investigating whether the compatibility between stimulus and response modalities modulates dual-task-related activity along the IFS. It has been shown behaviorally that the degree of interference, as measured by dual-task costs, increases in modality-incompatible conditions (e.g. visual–vocal tasks combined with auditory–manual tasks) as compared to modality-compatible conditions (e.g. visual–manual tasks combined with auditory–vocal tasks). Using fMRI, we measured IFS activity when participants performed modality-compatible and modality-incompatible single and dual tasks. Behaviorally, we replicated the finding of higher dual-task costs for modality-incompatible tasks compared to modality-compatible tasks. The fMRI data revealed higher activity along the IFS in modality-incompatible dual tasks compared with modality-compatible dual tasks when inter-individual variability in functional brain organization is taken into account. We argue that in addition to temporal order coordination (Szameitat et al., 2002), the IFS is involved in the coordination of cognitive processes associated with the concurrent mapping of sensory information onto corresponding motor responses in dual-task situations.     

认知风格影响归类过程中的神经活动-来自fMRI研究的证据

行为学研究表明归类过程中的反应具有认知风格上的不同,但未有研究明确探讨归类过程的神经活动是否也受认知风格的影响。本研究通过双重认知风格分型任务筛选出分析型和整体型被试,以探讨归类过程中二者之间是否表现出神经活动的差异。实验任务要求被试从两个待选物中选出与目标物属于同一类别的一个。同时,采用fMRI技术扫描并记录他们完成任务时的BOLD信号。结果发现,与基线任务相比,整体型和分析型个体均激活了额-枕网络的一些脑区,包括额下回、楔前叶、枕中回等,表明不同认知风格个体在任务中可能共享与工作记忆等相关的脑区。另外,与分析型个体相比,整体型个体在右额下回、右旁海马回呈现更广泛的特异性激活,提示,认知风格可以影响归类过程中的脑活动,而整体型个体大脑右半球更强烈的活动表明这一类型认知风格个体在归类时更依赖于远距离的语义联结。     

The interplay of trait worry and trait anxiety in determining episodic retrieval: The role of cognitive control

Worrying is a key concept in describing the complex relationship between anxiety and cognitive control. On the one hand, cognitive control processes might underlie the specific tendency to engage in worrying (i.e., trait worry), conceptualized as a future-oriented mental problem-solving activity. On the other hand, the general tendency to experience the signs and symptoms of anxiety (i.e., trait anxiety) is suggested to impair cognitive control because worrisome thoughts interfere with task-relevant processing. Based on these opposing tendencies, we predicted that the effect of the two related constructs, trait anxiety and trait worry, might cancel out one another. In statistics, such instances have been termed suppressor situations. In four experiments, we found evidence for such a suppressor situation: When their shared variance was controlled, trait worry was positively whereas trait anxiety was negatively related to performance in a memory task requiring strategic, effortful retrieval. We also showed that these opposing effects are related to temporal context reinstatement. Our results suggest that trait worry and trait anxiety possess unique sources of variance, which differently relate to performance in memory tasks requiring cognitive control.     

Global-local processing impacts academic risk taking

Research has shown that academic risk taking—the selection of school tasks with varying difficulty levels—affords important implications for educational outcomes. In two experiments, we explored the role of cognitive processes—specifically, global versus local processing styles—in students’ academic risk-taking tendencies. Participants first read a short passage, which provided the context for their subsequent academic risk-taking decisions. Following which, participants undertook the Navon’s task and attended to either global letters or local letters only, i.e., were either globally or locally primed. The effects of priming on academic risk taking were then assessed using a perception-based measure (Experiment 1) and a task-based measure (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 provided preliminary evidence, which Experiment 2 confirmed, that globally focused individuals took more academic risk than did locally focused individuals after controlling for participants’ need for cognition (how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities). Additionally, the inclusion of and comparisons with a control group in Experiment 2 revealed that locally focused participants drove the observed effects. The theory of predictive and reactive control systems (PARCS) provides a cogent account of our findings. Future directions and practical applications in education are discussed.     

Task difficulty modulates brain-behavior correlations in language production and cognitive control: Behavioral and fMRI evidence from a phonological go/no-go picture-naming paradigm

Language production and cognitive control are complex processes that involve distinct yet interacting brain networks. However, the extent to which these processes interact and their neural bases have not been thoroughly examined. Here, we investigated the neural and behavioral bases of language production and cognitive control via a phonological go/no-go picture-naming task. Naming difficulty and cognitive control demands (i.e., conflict monitoring and response inhibition) were manipulated by varying the proportion of naming trials (go trials) and inhibition trials (no-go trials) across task runs. The results demonstrated that as task demands increased, participants’ behavioral performance declined (i.e., longer reaction times on naming trials, more commission errors on inhibition trials) whereas brain activation generally increased. Increased activation was found not only within the language network but also in domain-general control regions. Additionally, right superior and inferior frontal and left supramarginal gyri were sensitive to increased task difficulty during both language production and response inhibition. We also found both positive and negative brain–behavior correlations. Most notably, increased activation in sensorimotor regions, such as precentral and postcentral gyri, was associated with better behavioral performance, in both successful picture naming and successful inhibition. Moreover, comparing the strength of correlations across conditions indicated that the brain–behavior correlations in sensorimotor regions that were associated with improved performance became stronger as task demands increased. Overall, our results suggest that cognitive control demands affect language production, and that successfully coping with increases in task difficulty relies on both language-specific and domain-general cognitive control regions.     

Delay knowledge and trial set count modulate use of proactive versus reactive control: A meta-analytic review

The AX-continuous performance task (AX-CPT) and dot pattern expectancy (DPX) are the predominant cognitive paradigms used to assess the relative utilization of proactive versus reactive cognitive control. Experimental parameters vary widely between studies and systematically between different modalities (i.e., fMRI vs. EEG) with unknown consequences for the implementation of control. This meta-analytic review systematically surveyed these bodies of literature (k = 43, 73 data points) to resolve how cue–probe delay knowledge, delay length, and trial set count modulate the preferential use of proactive versus reactive control. In healthy young adults, delay knowledge and increasing trial set count each bias participants toward greater proactive control. Further, the interaction of delay knowledge and trial set count accounts for ~40% of variability in proactive/reactive control performance. As trial count varies reliably between experimental modalities, it is critical to understand how these parameters activate distinct cognitive processes and tap into different neural mechanisms for control. Subgroup analyses revealed important distinctions from our results in healthy young adults. Healthy, slightly older adults (ages 30–45 years) performed more reactively compared to healthy young adults. In addition, participants with schizophrenia showed evidence of more proactive control as trial set count increased. In light of this meta-analytic review, we conclude that delay knowledge and trial set length are important parameters to account for in the assessment of proactive versus reactive control. More broadly, this metaregression provides strong evidence that cognitive control becomes more reactive when timing demands are not known, and that both healthy persons and persons with schizophrenia shift toward proactive control with increasing repetitions of a task set.     

Pavlovian to instrumental transfer of control in a human learning task

Pavlovian learning tasks have been widely used as tools to understand basic cognitive and emotional processes in humans. The present studies investigated one particular task, Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT), with human participants in an effort to examine potential cognitive and emotional effects of Pavlovian cues upon instrumentally trained performance. In two experiments, subjects first learned two separate instrumental response-outcome relationships (i.e., R1-O1 and R2-O2) and then were exposed to various stimulus-outcome relationships (i.e., S1-O1, S2-O2, S3-O3, and S4-) before the effects of the Pavlovian stimuli on instrumental responding were assessed during a non-reinforced test. In Experiment 1, instrumental responding was established using a positive-reinforcement procedure, whereas in Experiment 2, a quasi-avoidance learning task was used. In both cases, the Pavlovian stimuli exerted selective control over instrumental responding, whereby S1 and S2 selectively elevated the instrumental response with which it shared an outcome. In addition, in Experiment 2, S3 exerted a nonselective transfer of control effect, whereby both responses were elevated over baseline levels. These data identify two ways, one specific and one general, in which Pavlovian processes can exert control over instrumental responding in human learning paradigms, suggesting that this method may serve as a useful tool in the study of basic cognitive and emotional processes in human learning.