冲突观察范式下冲突适应的机制

冲突观察诱发的冲突适应不受反应执行的影响,因此更纯净。该研究分别采用Stroop任务、单词Flanker任务和字母Flanker任务的冲突观察范式,在三个实验中考察了冲突适应的机制。在三个实验中,冲突适应都表现在反应任务中的一致试次和不一致试次上;不一致试次之后的干扰效应显著小于一致试次之后的干扰效应;冲突适应量服从正态分布。因此,该研究首次在冲突观察范式下揭示了冲突适应的分布特征,为认知控制研究提供了新思路。     

不同认知方式对词—面孔任务Stroop效应的影响

该研究采用词—面孔Stroop任务,以76名大学生为被试,探讨了不同认知方式（场独立、场依存）对情绪冲突Stroop效应的影响。结果发现：（1）情绪冲突的Stroop效应显著,即,在词—面孔Stroop任务中,当词和面孔的情绪效价一致时,被试的反应时更短,正确率更高。（2）认知方式对情绪冲突Stroop任务的影响显著,表现为无论是一致还是不一致条件下,场独立者比场依存者的反应时都更短。（3）场依存者的情绪冲突Stroop效应更大,表现为其在词—面孔情绪效价一致和不一致条件下的反应时差异更大。     

知觉负载影响注意选择和冲突解决的系列效应

研究考察了无关侧抑制项引起的侧抑制效应如何受到当前试次知觉负载和先前试次知觉负载与目标?侧抑制项关系的交互影响。被试在视觉搜索集中搜索目标朝向刺激(水平或竖直朝向)并作辨别反应, 非目标项在低负载条件下彼此朝向一致, 在高负载条件下彼此朝向不一致。在搜索集的左侧或右侧存在一个与当前目标一致或不一致的无关侧抑制项(flanker)。结果发现, 整体上, 在当前试次低负载条件下会产生较大的干扰效应, 而在当前试次高负载下无干扰效应。此外, 先前试次(trial n-1)为高负载条件时, 当前试次(trial n)出现了典型的知觉负载效应, 即低负载条件干扰效应较大, 高负载条件无干扰效应。但是, 先前试次为低负载条件时, 当前试次的干扰效应大小受到先前试次冲突解决状态的影响。先前试次为低负载条件且目标?无关侧抑制项不一致时, 下一试次低负载条件的侧抑制效应显著减小, 与高负载条件没有差异; 反之, 先前试次为低负载且目标?侧抑制项一致条件时, 下一试次低负载条件的侧抑制效应显著增大。先前试次为低负载条件时, 完成了知觉加工的侧抑制项或者引发了冲突效应(不一致条件), 或者促进了对目标的反应(一致条件), 造成不同的注意选择和冲突解决状态, 显著影响了下一试次的行为表现。这说明, 注意选择与冲突控制过程是动态变化的, 除了受到当前试次知觉负载的影响, 也受到先前试次注意选择和冲突解决状态的调节。     

自我损耗对运动表现影响的元分析

运用元分析方法考察自我损耗对运动表现影响及其调节变量。通过中英文文献搜索,共纳入31篇文献和37个效应量,总样本量为1613。结果:(1)总体效应量检验发现,运动任务中的自我损耗为中等效应量,d=0.55,95%CI为[0.39,0.71];由于存在发表偏倚性,该中等效应量可能会被高估。(2)调节变量检验发现,自我损耗效应量较少受研究对象来源、研究对象类型和运动任务类型的影响;但受损耗任务类型和技能型任务中压力情境的影响。(3)执行运动任务时,主观体力感、心率和肌电等指标不存在自我损耗效应。这些研究结果支持了自我控制的力量模型具有普遍适用性,自我控制资源的领域普遍性以及自我控制的力量模型与注意控制理论整合的观点。未来研究应严格控制实验条件、拓展运动任务中自我损耗应对和自我控制训练的研究。     

冲突观察能诱发冲突适应

重复启动效应和一致试次所占的比例都会影响冲突适应效应。采用词-色Stroop任务, 本研究在控制了重复启动效应和一致试次的比例之后, 通过三个实验共同探讨反应执行和冲突观察对冲突适应效应的影响。实验一发现当前试次的Stroop干扰效应, 但没有得到冲突适应效应; 在实验二中, 先前试次为四选一的选择反应时任务, 当前试次为词-色Stroop任务, 得到反转的冲突适应效应; 实验三和实验一程序相似, 但在先前试次上不执行反应, 得到了稳定的冲突适应效应。这些结果证明, 冲突观察能够诱发冲突适应机制, 提升当前的操作表现。     

听障儿童认知抑制控制的脑电特点

通过认知抑制控制的Stroop范式运用事件相关电位考察听障儿童和对照组儿童在认知抑制控制方面的行为特点以及脑内时程特点。行为结果显示：（1）两类被试在一致条件下认知抑制控制的正确率显著高于不一致条件,反应时显著快于不一致条件,表现出冲突效应;（2）组间结果显示,听障儿童的认知抑制控制正确率显著低于对照组儿童,反应时上差异不显著。脑电结果显示：（1）不一致条件在N450上的负激活显著高于一致条件,听障儿童比对照组儿童诱发了更负的N450波幅;（2）不一致条件在SP上的正激活显著高于一致条件,两类被试在SP上差异不显著。结果提示听障儿童在认知抑制控制过程中的冲突监测功能存在障碍,这是由于冲突监测过程中注意分配能力受损所致。     

金钱惩罚促进Stroop任务中的行为表现

本研究通过Stroop任务和修改版MIDT相结合,目的是考察不同额度金钱惩罚对Stroop任务行为表现的影响。结果发现：（1）无论是中性试次,一致试次还是不一致试次,金钱惩罚不仅减少了被试的行为反应时,而且提高了正确率;（2）非惩罚条件与惩罚条件下的冲突效应以及其他不同额度惩罚条件下的冲突效应差异不显著;（3）金钱惩罚对不一致试次反应时的影响与个体的惩罚敏感性呈显著负相关,而与奖赏敏感性无关。结果表明,金钱惩罚能够促进个体的一般行为表现,但是不会提高冲突抑制能力。同时,金钱惩罚对认知行为的影响与其惩罚敏感性密切相关。     

金钱惩罚促进Stroop任务中的行为表现

本研究通过Stroop任务和修改版MIDT相结合,目的是考察不同额度金钱惩罚对Stroop任务行为表现的影响。结果发现：（1）无论是中性试次,一致试次还是不一致试次,金钱惩罚不仅减少了被试的行为反应时,而且提高了正确率;（2）非惩罚条件与惩罚条件下的冲突效应以及其他不同额度惩罚条件下的冲突效应差异不显著;（3）金钱惩罚对不一致试次反应时的影响与个体的惩罚敏感性呈显著负相关,而与奖赏敏感性无关。结果表明,金钱惩罚能够促进个体的一般行为表现,但是不会提高冲突抑制能力。同时,金钱惩罚对认知行为的影响与其惩罚敏感性密切相关。     

无意识信息的刺激表征及其时间特性

无意识信息是否存在刺激表征有待解决。实验采用字母Flanker任务, 通过目标和flanker在刺激水平和反应水平上的冲突效应, 重点考察阈下flanker在刺激水平的表征。在相同的实验设计下, flanker可觉察时(实验1A), 观察到经典的刺激冲突效应和反应冲突效应; 而flanker无意识时(实验1B), 重复了反应冲突效应, 却观察到刺激冲突效应发生反转, 提示了无意识信息的反应加工及刺激加工。实验2采用符号材料促使刺激−反应的自动联结, 减少刺激−反应规则的难度, 结果重复了实验1B的发现--无意识信息引起反转的刺激冲突。刺激冲突下反转效应的一致结果表明无意识信息的刺激表征影响了认知加工。实验3考察这种影响在时间进程上的特点。无意识刺激表征的影响随反应时变化：在快速反应中观察到刺激冲突效应, 之后该效应发生反转且反转量随反应时增加而增大。相反, 无意识反应表征的影响在不同反应时下保持稳定。以上结果提供了无意识信息存在刺激表征的行为学证据并揭示了其时间特性, 提供了无意识领域中不一致研究结果的整合思路。     

类比数量表征的线索:离散量还是连续量

运用Stroop研究范式,对30名成人被试的类比数量表征线索进行了研究。结果发现:在类比数量的小数和大数段上,不存在表征线索的分化;在个数任务中不出现Stroop效应,但被试在强不一致条件下的错误率显著高于强一致条件下的错误率;在累积面积任务中出现Stroop效应,且在弱不一致、强不一致条件下的反应时、错误率都显著高于强一致、弱一致条件下的反应时、错误率。以上结果表明被试在进行类比数量表征时,可以同时提取离散量线索和连续量线索,但是对离散量线索的抑制要难于对连续量线索的抑制。     

Mental chronometry and individual differences: Modeling reliabilities and correlations of reaction time means and effect sizes

We used a general stage-based model of reaction time (RT) to investigate the psychometric properties of mean RTs and experimental effect sizes (i.e., differences in mean RTs). Using the model, formulas were derived for the reliabilities of mean RTs and RT difference scores, and these formulas provide guidance about the number of trials per participant needed to obtain reliable estimates of these measures. In addition, formulas were derived for various different types of correlations computed in RT research (e.g., correlations between a mean RT and an external non-RT measure, between two mean RTs, between a mean RT and an RT effect size). The analysis revealed that observed RT-based correlations depend on many parameters of the underlying processes contributing to RT. We conclude that these correlations often fail to support the inferences drawn from them and that their proper interpretation is far more complex than is generally acknowledged.     

CDF-XL: computing cumulative distribution functions of reaction time data in Excel

In experimental psychology, central tendencies of reaction time (RT) distributions are used to compare different experimental conditions. This emphasis on the central tendency ignores additional information that may be derived from the RT distribution itself. One method for analysing RT distributions is to construct cumulative distribution frequency plots (CDFs; Ratcliff, Psychological Bulletin 86:446–461, 1979). However, this method is difficult to implement in widely available software, severely restricting its use. In this report, we present an Excel-based program, CDF-XL, for constructing and analysing CDFs, with the aim of making such techniques more readily accessible to researchers, including students (CDF-XL can be downloaded free of charge from the Psychonomic Society’s online archive). CDF-XL functions as an Excel workbook and starts from the raw experimental data, organised into three columns (Subject, Condition, and RT) on an Input Data worksheet (a point-and-click utility is provided for achieving this format from a broader data set). No further preprocessing or sorting of the data is required. With one click of a button, CDF-XL will generate two forms of cumulative analysis: (1) “standard” CDFs, based on percentiles of participant RT distributions (by condition), and (2) a related analysis employing the participant means of rank-ordered RT bins. Both analyses involve partitioning the data in similar ways, but the first uses a “median”-type measure at the participant level, while the latter uses the mean. The results are presented in three formats: (i) by participants, suitable for entry into further statistical analysis; (ii) grand means by condition; and (iii) completed CDF plots in Excel charts.     

Reaction time measures in deception research: Comparing the effects of irrelevant and relevant stimulus–response compatibility

Evidence regarding the validity of reaction time (RT) measures in deception research is mixed. One possible reason for this inconsistency is that structurally different RT paradigms have been used. The aim of this study was to experimentally investigate whether structural differences between RT tasks are related to how effective those tasks are for capturing deception. We achieved this aim by comparing the effectiveness of relevant and irrelevant stimulus–response compatibility (SRC) tasks. We also investigated whether an intended but not yet completed mock crime could be assessed with both tasks. Results showed (1) a larger compatibility effect in the relevant SRC task compared to the irrelevant SRC task, (2) for both the completed and the intended crime. These results were replicated in a second experiment in which a semantic feature (instead of color) was used as critical response feature in the irrelevant SRC task. The findings support the idea that a structural analysis of deception tasks helps to identify RT measures that produce robust group effects, and that strong compatibility effects for both enacted crimes as well as merely intended crimes can be found with RT measures that are based on the manipulation of relevant SRC.     

RT distribution analysis of category congruence effects with masked primes

Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia In the number magnitude decision task (“Is the number bigger/smaller than 5?”), response to a target (e.g., 3) is faster following a masked prime congruent with the target (e.g., 1) than it is following an incongruent prime (e.g., 9). This category congruence effect has been reported to be “interference-dominant” relative to a neutral prime (e.g., the # sign, the number 5) on the basis of the analysis of mean response time (RT). Using RT distribution analysis as well as mean RTs, we identified two bases for this pattern. One relates to the choice of neutral baseline: The # prime, unlike the digit prime, does not factor in the cost of perceptual transition between the prime and target, and therefore underestimates facilitation and overestimates the interference effect. The second basis of the interference-dominant pattern is a disproportionate slowdown of congruent trials in the slow RT bins. Furthermore, this slowdown is greater for primes that had been used as targets than it is with “novel” primes that have not been responded to as targets. We interpret the results as suggesting that the category congruence effect has two components with different time courses—one based on stimulus-response mapping, and the other on semantic categorization.     

注意转移在负相容效应产生中的作用:独立还是伴随*

采用两个实验设计,在确保负相容效应(NCE)的产生主要来自反应抑制贡献的实验范式基础上加入引发显性注意转移的目标刺激,探讨了注意转移在负相容效应产生中的作用。具体来说,实验一在经典NCE范式中加入中性目标刺激,并操纵启动与目标的关系。发现,不相容条件下的反应时最短,无关条件次之,相容条件下最长。证明在该范式中反应抑制在NCE的产生中占主导地位。实验二则在实验一范式的基础上,加入左、中、右呈现的加号目标刺激。发现,两种目标类型的反应时结果模式均与实验一相似。结果表明,注意转移并非如Cole和Kuhn(2010)提出的能够独立引发NCE,它只是伴随NCE的抑制加工过程而出现,且其加工模式与抑制加工模式类似。     

On the relation between the mean and the variance of a diffusion model response time distribution

Almost every empirical psychological study finds that the variance of a response time (RT) distribution increases with the mean. Here we present a theoretical analysis of the nature of the relationship between RT mean and RT variance, based on the assumption that a diffusion model (e.g., Ratcliff (1978) Psychological Review, 85, 59-108; Ratcliff (2002). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 278-291), adequately captures the shape of empirical RT distributions. We first derive closed-form analytic solutions for the mean and variance of a diffusion model RT distribution. Next, we study how systematic differences in two important diffusion model parameters simultaneously affect the mean and the variance of the diffusion model RT distribution. Within the range of plausible values for the drift rate parameter, the relation between RT mean and RT standard deviation is approximately linear. Manipulation of the boundary separation parameter also leads to an approximately linear relation between RT mean and RT standard deviation, but only for low values of the drift rate parameter.     

Task-related versus stimulus-specific practice

When people repeatedly practice the same cognitive task, their response times (RT) invariably decrease. Dutilh, Vandekerckhove, Tuerlinckx, and Wagenmakers (2009) argued that the traditional focus on how mean RT decreases with practice offers limited insight; their diffusion model analysis showed that the effect of practice is multifaceted, involving an increase in rate of information processing, a decrease in response caution, adjusted response bias, and, unexpectedly, a strong decrease in nondecision time. In this study, we aim to further disentangle these effects into stimulus-specific and task-related components. The data of a transfer experiment, in which repeatedly presented sets and new sets of stimuli were alternated, show that the practice effects on both speed of information processing and time needed for peripheral processing are partly task-related and partly stimulus-specific. The effects on response caution and response bias appear to be task-related. This diffusion model decomposition provides a perspective on practice that is more detailed and more informative than the traditional analysis of mean RT.     

Display size effects in visual search: Analyses of reaction time distributions as mixtures

In a reanalysis of data from Cousineau and Shiffrin (2004) and two new visual search experiments, we used a likelihood ratio test to examine the full distributions of reaction time (RT) for evidence that the display size effect is a mixture-type effect that occurs on only a proportion of trials, leaving RT in the remaining trials unaffected, as is predicted by serial self-terminating search models. Experiment 1 was a reanalysis of Cousineau and Shiffrin's data, for which a mixture effect had previously been established by a bimodal distribution of RTs, and the results confirmed that the likelihood ratio test could also detect this mixture. Experiment 2 applied the likelihood ratio test within a more standard visual search task with a relatively easy target/distractor discrimination, and Experiment 3 applied it within a target identification search task within the same types of stimuli. Neither of these experiments provided any evidence for the mixture-type display size effect predicted by serial self-terminating search models. Overall, these results suggest that serial self-terminating search models may generally be applicable only with relatively difficult target/distractor discriminations, and then only for some participants. In addition, they further illustrate the utility of analysing full RT distributions in addition to mean RT.     

Reliability of the 5-min psychomotor vigilance task in a primary school classroom setting

This study evaluated the reliability of the 5-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) in a single-sex Australian primary school. Seventy-five male students (mean age 5 11.82 years, SD = 1.12) completed two 5-min PVTs using a Palm personal digital assistant (PDA) in (1) an isolated setting and (2) a classroom setting. Of this group of students, a subsample of 37 students completed a test-retest reliability trial within the classroom setting. Using a mixed-model analysis, there was no significant difference in the mean response time (RT) or number of lapses (RTs ≥ 500 msec) between the isolated and the classroom setting. There was, however, an order effect for the number of lapses in the isolated setting, with the number of lapses being greater if the isolated test was conducted second. Test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) in the classroom setting indicated moderate to high reliability (mean RT = .84, lapses = .59). Bland-Altman analysis showed no systematic difference between the two settings. Findings suggest that the 5-min PDA PVT is a reliable measure of sustained attention in the classroom setting in this sample of primary-aged schoolchildren. The results provide further evidence for the versatility of this measuring device for larger interventions outside the laboratory.