口语产生中的认知年老化及其神经机制

综述了口语产生的认知年老化现象及其认知神经机制, 总结了年龄因素对口语产生各阶段的影响及认知机制, 主要从从舌尖效应、同音词的图片命名及其启动效应等方面进行了阐述。在此基础上阐述了关于口语产生认知年老化的理论：激活不充分假说、传递不足假说和抑制不足假说, 从不同角度对认知年老化进行了分析。总结了采用fMRI和ERP技术所进行的口语产生认知年老化过程的认知神经科学研究, 概括了其认知神经机制及其发生的时间进程, 重点阐述了舌尖效应发生的神经机制。最后, 从“认知年老化”和“口语产生”这两个研究领域, 对口语产生认知年老化的研究提出了展望。     

权力具身效应的影响因素及机制

具身认知为人们解读“权力”提供了新的理论基础和方法论,但以往多数研究强调语言层面上权力的概念表征,较少关注权力的社会具身效应。本文通过梳理国内外权力具身认知研究的文献,从情境、文化因素、个体因素等方面分析权力具身效应的影响因素,并揭示身体经验影响权力认知和行为的心理机制和过程——模态启动。在此基础上进一步明确未来的研究方向,应从社会具身效应的作用机制、多重心理机制、权力具身效应的神经机制、应用研究等方面进行深入研究。     

调整与通达:锚定效应心理机制的研究进展

调整和通达是锚定效应心理机制的两种代表性观点,近年来,关于这两种机制的研究不断推进,产生了有限理性观、社会认知理论、双加工理论、态度改变理论等研究视角。从调整或通达单一解释模型发展到对复合机制的检验;从单锚效应机制的阐释发展到对双锚效应心理过程的探讨。未来研究应在选择通达加工过程的思维层面和内涵、不同性质问题下锚定效应机制的差异性、锚定效应内外部影响因素及神经心理机制研究等方面进一步深化。     

通过身体动作理解人与环境:具身的社会认知

近年来,身体与环境的互动、个体认知过程中的情境因素已逐渐成为具身认知领域的研究热点。众多的具身认知研究开始探究何种情境才能有效地启动具身效应。个体的身体感知或者身体动作的变化会对其知觉、情绪等高级心理过程产生无意识的具身效应,认知神经机制的研究显示大脑的运动皮层在这一系列的高级心理过程中发挥了极为重要的作用。本文主要对具身社会认知神经机制的研究进行梳理与分析,旨在从认知神经机制的层面剖析身体动作如何影响个体对人与环境的理解和互动,以及从方法论的角度上思考目前具身认知神经机制的研究现状。     

数量加工单方向干扰时间知觉的认知与神经机制

近年来,数量加工对时间知觉的单方向干扰效应受到广泛关注,然而关于该效应的认知和神经机制的研究却缺乏深度的文献梳理和理论分析。本文从抽象数量、数字符号等认知加工如何干扰时间知觉的角度,系统总结了近期数量加工单方向影响时间知觉的研究进展;并在对相关文献加以梳理的基础上,详细分析了该效应可能的认知和神经机制,并提出若干未来研究的设想。     

老年人的框架效应

框架效应作为一种决策中的非理性偏差, 其年龄差异逐渐受到研究者的关注。总体来说, 老年人和年轻人在医疗和经济决策领域中具有不同的框架效应特点, 且主要表现为强度和类型上的差异。老年人的框架效应主要受到决策情境、个体认知、情绪及认知神经生理特点等因素的影响。未来研究不仅要继续探讨老年人在不同领域中的框架效应特点及其影响因素, 还应该从老年人的其他个体特征、实验材料与设计类型、解释机制研究以及拓展应用方面做进一步的探索。     

通货膨胀知觉的认知机制和影响因素

通货膨胀知觉是个体对通货膨胀的主观体验.通货膨胀知觉的认知机制主要体现在体验阶段和整合阶段.体验阶段主要涉及到个体对物价的感受性和记忆,整合阶段主要涉及到个体利用可得性启发式以及锚定和调整启发式完成对通货膨胀的最终估计.通货膨胀知觉的影响因素主要包括通货膨胀预期、框架效应、对价格公平性的认知、社会放大效应以及货币改革等.未来可以从通货膨胀知觉的信息加工方式、认知神经机制、跨文化研究以及具有较高生态效度的测量指标等方面进一步探讨.     

听觉言语信息阈下启动及其认知神经机制

长期以来,言语信息的阈下启动研究都局限于考察视觉通道的阈下启动效应而忽视了听觉通道的阈下启动效应。听觉言语信息阈下启动研究发现,听觉通道也存在显著的阈下启动效应,而且其与视觉阈下启动存在一定差异。对听觉言语信息阈下启动的影响因素及其认知神经机制的研究促进了对听觉言语信息无意识加工机制的认识。未来的听觉言语信息阈下启动研究应进一步考察其影响因素及认知神经机制。     

延迟折扣的认知与神经机制:特质性与状态性研究取向

延迟折扣是指与当前或近期的获益(或损失)相比,人们总是倾向于赋予将来获益(或损失)更小的权重。为什么人们在跨期选择中会表现出冲动性行为?怎样才能让人"目光远大",而避免"鼠目寸光"呢?这些都是延迟折扣研究力求解决的问题。近几年,本课题组利用行为、ERP、多模态MRI等技术,从特质性和状态性研究角度出发,系统考察延迟折扣的影响因素、认知机制和神经基础。首先,从特质性角度,考察了跨期选择中价值评估和自我控制加工的神经分离、立即选项与延迟选项的神经表征与预测、调控方式对延迟折扣作用的神经机制;其次,从状态性角度,考察了框架效应、贫富线索等对延迟折扣的影响以及预期情绪对延迟折扣的调控机理。最后,根据特质性因素(控制能力、时间感知、识解水平等)和状态性因素(框架效应、贫富线索、预期情绪等)对延迟折扣的影响及调控机制,提出了延迟折扣可塑性的研究思路。本课题组的研究对于延迟折扣认知与神经机制的理论建构具有重要的科学价值,对于延迟折扣的可塑性及临床应用也有重要的指导意义。     

创造性思维的酝酿效应

酝酿效应是指当人们遭遇无法解决的难题时, 暂时将其搁置, 转而去完成其他无关任务, 反而有利于原有问题解决的现象。近年来, 研究者对创造性问题解决过程中的酝酿效应及其影响因素进行了广泛的研究, 同时提出了较多理论试图进一步解释酝酿效应。酝酿效应的代表性理论可分为“选择性遗忘理论”、“激活扩散和线索同化理论”、“无意识加工理论”等, 它们从不同角度解释了酝酿效应的机制, 并对其影响因素和有关现象各有预测。对心智游移和睡眠这些特殊形式的酝酿的研究进一步揭示了酝酿效应的机制。认知神经研究表明, 酝酿期的基本认知成分, 即表征重构和激活扩散, 涉及到前额叶、纹状体、海马体等多个脑区的协同合作。未来研究需要以深化理论建设为基础, 利用认知神经方法进一步揭示酝酿效应的机制, 从而更为深刻地认识创造性酝酿的本质。     

Switching between global and local scopes of attention is resisted near the hands

Recently, several changes in perception, attention, and visual working memory have been reported when stimuli are near to compared to far from the hands, suggesting that such stimuli receive enhanced scrutiny. A mechanism that inhibits the disengagement of attention from objects near the hands, thus forcing a more thorough inspection, has been proposed to underlie such effects. Up until now, this possibility has been tested only in a limited number of tasks. In the present study we examined whether changes in one's global or local attentional scope are similarly affected by hand proximity. Participants analysed stimuli according to either their global shape or the shape of their constituent local elements while holding their hands near to or far from the stimuli. Switches between global and local processing were markedly slower near the hands, reflecting an attentional mechanism that compels an observer to more fully evaluate objects near their hands by inhibiting changes in attentional scope. Such a mechanism may be responsible for some of the changes observed in other tasks, and reveals the special status conferred to objects near the hands.     

Altered vision near the hands

The present study explored the manner in which hand position may affect visual processing. We studied three classic visual attention tasks (visual search, inhibition of return, and attentional blink) during which the participants held their hands either near the stimulus display, or far from the display. Remarkably, the hands altered visual processing: people shifted their attention between items more slowly when their hands were near the display. The same results were observed for both visible and invisible hands. This enhancement in vision for objects near the hands reveals a mechanism that could facilitate the detailed evaluation of objects for potential manipulation, or the assessment of potentially dangerous objects for a defensive response.     

Trade-offs in visual processing for stimuli near the hands

It is known that stimuli near the hands receive preferential processing. In the present study, we explored changes in early vision near the hands. Participants were more sensitive to low-spatial-frequency information and less sensitive to high-spatial-frequency information for stimuli presented close to the hands. This pattern suggests enhanced processing in the magnocellular visual pathway for such stimuli, and impaired processing in the parvocellular pathway. Consistent with that possibility, we found that the effects of hand proximity in several tasks were eliminated by illumination with red diffuse light—a manipulation known to impair magnocellular processing. These results help clarify how the hands affect vision.     

The power of the imagination to affect peripersonal space representations

It is known that visual processing is altered for objects near the hands as well as for objects near the imagined position of the hands, indicating that the imagination can be used to remap peri-hand space. Little is known, however, about the physical conditions that allow for this remapping. In the present study, participants in one experiment performed visual searches through displays that were beyond reach while imagining that their hands were near the display. This imagined impossible posture slowed visual search rates, showing that imagination effectively remapped peri-hand space to be near the display. In another experiment, participants searched displays they were holding, but sometimes imagined their hands to be far away. This produced faster search rates, revealing a remapping of peri-hand space away from the monitor. The results provide new insights into the mechanisms involved in the representation of peri-hand space and about the power of imagined actions to influence body representations.     

The nature of altered vision near the hands: Evidence for the magnocellular enhancement account from object correspondence through occlusion

A growing body of evidence indicates that the perception of visual stimuli is altered when they occur near the observer’s hands, relative to other locations in space (see Brockmole, Davoli, Abrams, & Witt, 2013, for a review). Several accounts have been offered to explain the pattern of performance across different tasks. These have typically focused on attentional explanations (attentional prioritization and detailed attentional evaluation of stimuli in near-hand space), but more recently, it has been suggested that near-hand space enjoys enhanced magnocellular (M) input. Here we differentiate between the attentional and M-cell accounts, via a task that probes the roles of position consistency and color consistency in determining dynamic object correspondence through occlusion. We found that placing the hands near the visual display made observers use only position consistency, and not color, in determining object correspondence through occlusion, which is consistent with the fact that M cells are relatively insensitive to color. In contrast, placing observers’ hands far from the stimuli allowed both color and position contribute. This provides evidence in favor of the M-cell enhancement account of altered vision near the hands.     

Contributions of parvocellular and magnocellular pathways to visual perception near the hands are not fixed,but can be dynamically altered

Visual perception is altered near the hands, and several mechanisms have been proposed to account for this, including differences in attention and a bias toward magnocellular-preferential processing. Here we directly pitted these theories against one another in a visual search task consisting of either magnocellular- or parvocellular-preferred stimuli. Surprisingly, we found that when a large number of items are in the display, there is a parvocellular processing bias in near-hand space. Considered in the context of existing results, this indicates that hand proximity does not entail an inflexible bias toward magnocellular processing, but instead that the attentional demands of the task can dynamically alter the balance between magnocellular and parvocellular processing that accompanies hand proximity.     

Hand position alters vision by biasing processing through different visual pathways

The present study investigated the mechanisms responsible for the difference between visual processing of stimuli near and far from the observer's hands. The idea that objects near the hands are immediate candidates for action led us to hypothesize that vision near the hands would be biased toward the action-oriented magnocellular visual pathway that supports processing with high temporal resolution but low spatial resolution. Conversely, objects away from the hands are not immediate candidates for action and, therefore, would benefit from a bias toward the perception-oriented parvocellular visual pathway that supports processing with high spatial resolution but low temporal resolution. We tested this hypothesis based on the psychophysical characteristics of the two pathways. Namely, we presented subjects with two tasks: a temporal-gap detection task which required the high temporal acuity of the magnocellular pathway and a spatial-gap detection task that required the spatial acuity of the parvocellular pathway. Consistent with our prediction, we found better performance on the temporal-gap detection task and worse performance on the spatial-gap detection task when stimuli were presented near the hands compared to when they were far from the hands. These findings suggest that altered visual processing near the hands may be due to changes in the contribution of the two visual pathways.     

Near-hand effects are robust: Three OSF pre-registered replications of visual biases in perihand space

ABSTRACT

Although previous work provides evidence that observers experience biases in visual processing when they view stimuli in perihand space, a few recent investigations have questioned the reliability of these near-hand effects. We addressed this controversy by running three pre-registered replication experiments. Experiment 1 was a replication of one of the initial studies on facilitated target detection near the hands in which participants performed an attentional cueing task while placing a single hand either near or far from the display. Experiment 2 tested the same paradigm while adopting the design of a recent experiment that called into question near-hand facilitation. Experiment 3 was a replication of a study in which hand proximity influenced working memory performance in a change detection paradigm. Across all three experiments, we found significant interactions between hand position and stimulus characteristics that indicated the hands’ presence altered visual processing, bolstering evidence favouring the robustness of near-hand effects.     

Reduced visual feature binding in the near-hand space

Growing evidence suggests that visual information is processed differently in the near-hand space, relative to the space far from the hands. To account for the existing literature, we recently proposed that the costs and benefits of hand proximity may be due to differential contributions of the action-oriented magnocellular (M) and the perception-oriented parvocellular (P) pathways. Evidence suggests that, relative to the space far from the hands, in near-hand space the contribution of the M pathway increases while the contribution of the P pathway decreases. The present study tested an important consequence of this account for visual representation. Given the P pathway’s role in feeding regions in which visual representations of unified objects (with bound features) are formed, we predicted that hand proximity would reduce feature binding. Consistent with this prediction, two experiments revealed signs of reduced feature binding in the near-hand space, relative to the far-hand space. We propose that the higher contribution of the M pathway, along with the reduced contribution of the P pathway, shifts visual perception away from an object-based perceptual mode toward a feature-based mode. These results are discussed in light of the distinction between action-oriented and perception-oriented vision.     

Hand function,not proximity,biases visuotactile integration later in object processing: An ERP study

Behavioral studies document a functional hand proximity effect: objects near the palm, but not the back of the hand, affect visual processing. Although visuotactile bimodal neurons integrate visual and haptic inputs, their receptive fields in monkey cortex encompass the whole hand, not just the palm. Using ERPs, we investigated whether hand function influenced the topology of integrated space around the hand. In a visual detection paradigm, target and non-target stimuli appeared equidistantly in front or in back of the hand. Equivalent N1 amplitudes were found for both conditions. P3 target versus non-target amplitude differences were greater for palm conditions. Hand proximity biased processing of visual targets equidistant from the hand early in processing. However, hand function biases emerged later when targets were selected for potential action. Thus, early hand proximity effects on object processing depend on sensory-reliant neural responses, whereas later multisensory integration depend more on the hand’s functional expertise.