Fluency versus conscious recollection in category-production performance: the performance of schizophrenic patients

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative contribution in schizophrenics of automatic processes (fluency) and conscious processes (conscious recollection) for the control of preencoded material in category production tasks. In one condition (Exclusion condition), subjects were told specifically not to produce previously presented words during the category-production task. This condition was compared with a standard category-production task in which subjects were told to produce the six first words that came to mind for a semantic category (Inclusion condition). In the inclusion condition, the effects of conscious control and automatic processes operated in the same direction, whereas in the exclusion condition automatic influences and conscious control were opposed. A recognition task followed the category-production tasks. Since the exclusion condition required conscious control of encoded items, we hypothesized that schizophrenic patients would be less able than control subjects to avoid producing study list items. These results indicated that schizophrenics' performance differed from these of control subjects in the exclusion condition but not in inclusion condition. Recognition performance was similar in both the schizophrenic and the control groups. These results suggest a defective conscious control in schizophrenic patients and confirm the data from the literature on explicit memory in these patients.     

Controlled information processing resources and the development of automatic detection responses in schizophrenia

The relation between resource limitations and the type of processing (automatic vs. controlled) on a multiple-frame search task (MFST) was examined in 15 schizophrenic and 15 normal control subjects. After 320 trials of consistently mapped practice, the patients' detection accuracy was normalized, and the effect of processing load (letter array size) on their detection accuracy was eliminated, which suggests automatization. Changes in load effects with practice could not be used as an index of automatization in control subjects, because of their unexpected lack of load effects at the beginning of practice. In a dual-task (MFST during auditory shadowing) condition after MFST practice, patients' MFST accuracy deteriorated nonsignificantly, and patients' shadowing declined significantly. The findings suggest schizophrenics have reduced available processing resources, but research is needed to determine whether this is due to abnormal automatization.     

任务定势对自动语义激活过程调节作用的ERP研究

摘要：本研究致力于探讨自上而下的因素对自动加工的影响。选取的自上而下因素为任务定势,自动加工过程为自动语义激活过程。研究采用ERPs技术,中文词汇为刺激,利用掩蔽启动范式,采用反应时和N400为指标。实验任务有三个：对问号后出现的词进行生物/非生物的词汇分类判断;对圆圈后出现的词进行是否含上下结构的字的词汇结构判断;对带“*”的词进行真词/假词判断。研究发现先前完成的任务形成的任务定势会对随后的自动语义激活过程产生调节作用：在词汇分类判断任务后,掩蔽启动刺激对靶刺激产生启动效应。在词汇结构判断任务后,掩蔽启动刺激对靶刺激没产生显著的启动效应。     

Depressed and nondepressed content self-reference in mild depressives

The present research investigated the extent to which mild depressives and normals differed in their self-referent processing of personal information. In Experiment 1, these subjects made two types of ratings on depressed (e.g., bleak, dismal) and nondepressed (e.g., loyal, organized) content personal adjectives. Half of the adjectives in each content category were rated for a semantic attribute (Does this word have a specific meaning or relate to a specific situation?), whereas half were rated for degree of self-reference (Does this word describe you?). These ratings were followed immediately by an incidental recall task, in which subjects recalled as many of the adjectives as possible. Consistent with predictions generated from a content-specific self-schema model, normals displayed superior recall for self-referenced nondepressed content adjectives, when compared to recall for self-referenced depressed content adjectives and recall for semantic ratings (both depressed and nondepressed content). In contrast, mild depressives exhibited enhanced self-referent recall for both types of content, when compared to their recall for semantic adjectives. This finding suggested that mild depressives utilize a self-schema which incorporates both depressed and nondepressed content. Experiment 2 explored this suggestion further by substituting an other-referent rating task (Does this word describe Pierre Trudeau?) for the semantic judgment used in Experiment 1. Again, consistent with a content-specific self-schema model, normals displayed superior recall only for self-referenced nondepressed adjectives. Mild depressives, however, showed enhanced self-referent recall, relative to other-referent recall, only for depressed content adjectives. For nondepressed content, mild depressives did not distinguish between the self- and other-referent conditions. This finding hinted that the nondepressed component of the mild depressives self-schema may operate at a somewhat reduced effectiveness, but only when required to differentiate between self and others.     

Efficiency and automaticity of self-schema processing in clinical depressives

In this study, female clinical depressives and nondepressed control subjects made a series of self-referent personality judgments concerning depressed and nondepressed content personal adjectives. Employing rating times (RTs) for the personality decisions as a dependent measure, it was found that both clinical depressives and nondepressed psychiatric controls processed self-schema congruent content more efficiently (with quicker RTs), than incongruent content. To further test for the automaticity of self-schema processing, half the depressed and nondepressed adjectives were rated while subjects held six digits in memory (a concurrent memory load). Here it was found that the independent variable of memory load (zero vs. six digits) did not interact significantly with the remaining independent variables of groups (clinical depressives, psychiatric nondepressives, normal nondepressives), decision type (yes, no), and adjective content (depressed, nondepressed). The lack of any interactions involving the memory load factor provides initial evidence for self-schema processing as an automatic process, rather than as a process that demands attentional capacity.This research was supported, in part, by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship to Michael R. MacDonald.     

Automatic Spatial Updating During Locomotion Without Vision

People can update their spatial relationships relative to the environment while walking without vision. The hypothesis that such updating is automatic was tested in a locomotor task in which the subjects were asked to refrain from updating their positions. Subjects walked without vision to one of four previously seen targets via a second location. In one condition-the updating condition-the subjects were asked to walk to the real position of the target relative to the second location; in another-the ignoring condition-they were asked to imagine that they had not moved from the starting point and to walk from the second location as if walking to the target from the initial location. When the subjects were asked to start walking to the target as soon as it was named by the experimenter, they performed better in the updating condition than in the ignoring condition. When the subjects were allowed more time to respond, the difference in performance between these two conditions disappeared. The results suggest that the subjects automatically updated their positions as they moved, but that, given enough time, they could override this updating retrospectively using more deliberate cognitive processing.     

A role for set when naming Arabic numerals: How intentionality limits (putatively automatic) performance

Processing in various skilled domains is often described as automatic, in the sense that functional stimulus processing is triggered by stimulus onset and cannot be interrupted. One problem is that subjects typically know what task they have to perform prior to stimulus presentation. Various effects attributed to automatic processing may, therefore, arise instead from the mental set that is already in place. In the present study, we investigated skilled subjects’ ability to engage in processing prior to knowing what the task is. A numeral was presented, and subjects either named it or added 1 and named the result. Which task was to be performed on a trial was signaled by a tone that appeared before or at the same time as the target. If functional target processing is triggered by its presentation, the effect of low contrast should be absorbed into the time taken to decode the task cue, regardless of the task (the effect of contrast should be absent at the 0-msec stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA] and present when task information is given in advance of the target). An underadditive interaction between contrast and SOA was seen for one task, but these factors had additive effects in the other task. This pattern can be understood in terms of the hypothesis that although encoding can be thought of as a stage common to both tasks, it is not, in the present context, functionally independent of a subsequent stage unique to a task.     

与当前任务无关的规则对自动反应激活过程的影响

摘要：本研究致力于探讨自上而下的任务因素对自动反应激活过程的影响。研究包含两个实验,采用掩蔽启动范式,选取字母和数字作为刺激,任务因素为与当前任务无关的处于预备状态的任务规则。实验一初步验证了与当前无关的处于预备状态的任务规则可以影响自动反应激活过程;实验二进一步证明了这种影响具有广泛性,即与当前无关的任务规则所设定的所有刺激系列都可以影响当前任务中的反应启动过程。研究总结论为：与当前任务目的无关、且存在自动刺激-反应联结的其他任务规则也能通过对被掩蔽的启动刺激反应的调节来影响对靶刺激的反应,从而影响启动效应的发生。     

The effect of context during word perception in schizophrenic patients

Hospitalized chronic and acute schizophrenics were compared with age- and social-status-matched controls on word perception tests to measure the effect of context on recognition thresholds. In Experiment 1 the method of J. Morton (1964, British Journal of Psychology, 55, 165-180) was adopted to see how related and unrelated contexts influenced word recognition thresholds when both context and stimulus word were presented visually. Experiment 2 was an auditory analog of Experiment 1 and in addition the chronic schizophrenics were selected on the basis of a presence or absence of auditory hallucinations. The influence of context on perceptual thresholds was quite normal in all schizophrenics. However, analysis of the incorrect responses elicited showed that some schizophrenic subjects do produce bizarre or irrelevant responses or perseveration to a greater extent than their controls. These results are explained in terms of automatic and strategic modes of information processing. The automatic processes responsible for the adjustment of perceptual thresholds operate normally in schizophrenics but response production which demands strategic selection and editing of responses is prone to malfunction which results in the observed deviations in the normal use of language.     

Self-attention,concept activation,and the causal self

Two experiments examined the relationship between the accessibility of selfreferent information and attributions of causal responsibility to the self. The first study introduced a priming technique, in which subjects used either first-person or third-person terms in a story construction task, to directly access self-referent or other-referent thought. It was found that self-attributions for hypothetical outcomes were greater for those subjects whose earlier stories were focused on the self. The second study, rather than activate self-referent cognition in a general fashion, sought to explicitly prime the notion of a “causal self.” In addition to self-referent or other-referent words, subjects were also given words that evoked notions of either causality or noncausality to be incorporated into their stories. Contingent activation of both “self” and “causal” notions subsequently resulted in greater self-attributions than any other experimental condition. Recall and recognition data from Experiment 2 were generally consistent with the contention that a specific and differentiated component of the self-schema had been accessed. The results of both studies, as well as the novel “self-priming” technique, are discussed in terms of self-awareness theory.     

Central load reduces peripheral processing: Evidence from incidental memory of background speech

Is there a trade‐off between central (working memory) load and peripheral (perceptual) processing? To address this question, participants were requested to undertake an n‐back task in one of two levels of central/cognitive load (i.e., 1‐back or 2‐back) in the presence of a to‐be‐ignored story presented via headphones. Participants were told to ignore the background story, but they were given a surprise memory test of what had been said in the background story, immediately after the n‐back task was completed. Memory was poorer in the high central load (2‐back) condition in comparison with the low central load (1‐back) condition. Hence, when people compensate for higher central load, by increasing attentional engagement, peripheral processing is constrained. Moreover, participants with high working memory capacity (WMC) – with a superior ability for attentional engagement – remembered less of the background story, but only in the low central load condition. Taken together, peripheral processing – as indexed by incidental memory of background speech – is constrained when task engagement is high.     

The effects of processing requirements on neurophysiological responses to spoken sentences

Ten English speaking subjects listened to sentences that varied in sentential constraint (i.e., the degree to which the context of a sentence predicts the final word of that sentence) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the presentation of the final word of each sentence. In the Control condition subjects merely listened to the sentences. In the Orthographic processing condition subjects merely listened to the sentences. In the Orthographic processing condition subjects decided, following each sentence, whether a given letter had been present in the final word of the preceding sentence. In the Phonological processing condition the subjects judged whether a given speech sound was contained in the terminal word. In the Semantic processing condition subjects determined whether the final word was a member of a given semantic category. A previous finding in the visual modality that the N400 component was larger in amplitude for low constraint sentence terminations than for high was extended to the auditory modality. It was also found that the amplitude of a N200-like response was similarly responsive to contextual constraint. The hypothesis that N400 amplitude would vary significantly with the depth of processing of the terminal word was not supported by the data. The "N200" recorded in this language processing context showed the classic frontocentral distribution of the N200. The N400 to spoken sentences had a central/centroparietal distribution similar to the N400 in visual modality experiments. It is suggested that the N400 obtained in these sentence contexts reflects an automatic semantic processing of words that occurs even when semantic analysis is not required to complete a given task. The cooccurrence and topographical dissimilarity of the "N200" and N400 suggest that the N400 may not be a delayed or a generic N200.     

Comparison of schizophrenics and normals on a visual search task.

The response times of 16 paranoids, 16 nonparanoids and 16 normals were compared on a search task which required subjects to identify target letters embedded in displays of varying numbers of non-targets. The rate on increase in response times with increased numbers of letters displayed was not markedly different for the various groups, although a derived measure of decision and response-selection time indicated that normals selected responses more rapidly. When compared with normals, schizophrenics seemed to experience more difficulty in response selection and decision than in processing visual stimulus information.     

A paradigm for exploring what the mind does while deciding what it should do.

One widespread belief about automatic mental processes is that, among other characteristics, they are involuntary. No initial conscious intent is necessary because such processing is stimulus initiated. This claim was studied in the context of a novel task-choice procedure in which subjects were informed as to which of two tasks they should perform on a letter string either well in advance of a target, or when the target appeared. The hypothesis that initial processing of the target occurs without intent predicts that the effect of contrast reduction will be absent when the task cue appears synchronously with the target. This is because initial processing of the target should be completed during the time taken to decode the task cue. The results are inconsistent with this account. Instead, they support an account in which functional target processing is delayed until the subject knows what the task is. Some directions for future investigations are noted.     

人格特质对选择性加工偏向的影响

采用词性辨别和注意探测任务,考察了神经质和外倾性对选择性加工偏向的影响。结果表明：（1）放试在选择信息时存在特质一致性倾向;（2）在单一刺激条件下,当刺激词呈现时间为0．5s时,高神经质对所有效价词的RT均快于低神经质;而当呈现时间为1．0s时,外倾者比内倾者的反应潜伏期更短4（3）双重刺激条件下的选择性加工偏向比单一刺激条件更明显;（4）在词性辨别任务中．刺激词呈现时间只影响了神经质被试对情绪词的RT;在注意探测任务中,呈现时间对内外倾被试的加工偏向影响不显著。     

Memory connections between thematically similar episodes

Recent theories about the representation of thematic information in memory propose that two episodes that share a theme are connected together through a thematic structure. We investigated the use of such cross-episode connections in comprehension and memory in six experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 used a priming technique; it was found that verification time for a test sentence from one story was speeded by an immediately preceding test sentence from a thematically similar story but only when subjects were given instructions to rate the similarities of the stories. In the remaining experiments, a single test sentence was presented immediately after a story was read, with timing controlled by presenting the story one word at a time. Response time for a test sentence from a previously read story was facilitated if the immediately preceding story was thematically similar, but only if the previously read story was extensively prestudied. We conclude that, during reading of an episode, thematic information may be encoded so as to lead to activation of similar episodes and formation of connections in memory between episodes, but such encoding is not automatic and depends on subjects' strategies and task difficulty.     

Depression and Judgment of Control: Impact of a Contingency on Accuracy

In this study we sought to determine whether mild depressives and nondepressives could respond adaptively and self-correct their judgments of contingency when it was clearly advantageous to do so. Ninety-six undergraduates were given four contingency-learning tasks involving pressing or not pressing a key to turn on a light and to judge the degree of control their responses had over light onset. On the first task, which included a monetary contingency only on light onset, mild depressives were relatively accurate in their judgments of control. Tasks 2 through 4, which also included a monetary contingency and feedback on accuracy of judgment of control, showed a Mood x Task interaction. Mild depressives, but not nondepressives, became more accurate, and by the last task, mild depressives were more accurate than nondepressives. Results were discussed in terms of incentive, feedback, and task exposure.     

Memory in schizophrenia and affective disorders*

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the stability of memory and information processing in schizophrenics and affectively disturbed patients. Twenty-two schizophrenics, eight affectives and 14 normal controls were tested twice, with an interval of approximately one year. Results showed that normals performed better than schizophrenics and affectively disturbed patients on almost all of the cognitive measures. The differences reached a level of significance on a reaction time test, a vigilance task and a long-term memory task. The only measure where the difference did not reach a level of significance was on a short-term memory test. Groups' performance to some extent changed over time on most of the measures, but the changes were not significantly different for different groups.     

Word-Level and Sentence-Level Automaticity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learners: A Comparative Study

The present study aimed to investigate second language (L2) word-level and sentence-level automatic processing among English as a foreign language students through a comparative analysis of students with different proficiency levels. As a multidimensional and dynamic construct, automaticity is conceptualized as processing speed, stability, and accuracy which are indexed by reaction time, coefficient variation and accuracy rate. Sixty students (39 undergraduate students and 21 graduate students) who majored in English participated in this study. They completed the lexical semantic classification task, the sentence construction task, the sentence verification task under two different modalities (visually- and aurally-presented situations). Multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the differences between the students with different proficiency levels pertaining to their L2 performance. The results indicated that the processing speed was not found to be a good indicator of automatic language processing. Moreover, both levels of students appeared to reach a plateau in word-level processing but there were some variations in students’ sentential processing. Finally, the findings showed that automatic language processing seemed to be module-specific and non-sharable across different modalities and skills.     

Influence of subjective difficulty on the degree of configural and featural processing in face recognition1

This study aimed to assess the effect of subjective difficulty on the degree of featural or configural processing in face recognition. It could be assumed that featural processing is analytic processing ( Peterson & Rhodes, 2003 ), while configural processing is automatic processing ( Dunning & Stern, 1994 ). It has been suggested that task difficulty affected the automaticity of processing. Task difficulty was manipulated using a number of alternatives or time pressure. Subjective difficulty could also affect the automaticity of processing. If so, then subjective difficulty may in turn affect the degree of featural or configural processing. Participants in a difficult condition were given instructions mentioning that the face‐recognition task was difficult, while participants in the control condition were given no such instruction. The amount of retrieved featural information in the former condition was less than that in the latter. These results suggested that the degree of featural processing decreased when the participants found the task difficult.