Elemental and Configural Processes in Patterning Discrimination Learning

Three experiments used appetitive conditioning with rats to examine the involvement of elemental and configural processes in positive and negative patterning discriminations. The first experiment demonstrated that negative and, to some extent, positive patterning discriminations were learned more rapidly when these discriminations consisted of stimulus elements that had previously been the reinforced as opposed to the non-reinforced elements of a simple discrimination. Experiment 2 revealed an excitatory summation effect during the early phase of negative patterning learning that depended upon discrimination pretraining. The final experiment demonstrated faster discrimination learning between the compound and the less salient, rather than the more salient, element of an instrumental patterning task. The present set of results were interpreted as reflecting the possibility, consistent with connectionist theory, that internal representations of the conditioned stimuli change over the course of a patterning discrimination.     

大学生学习策略的发展特点

采用《大学生学习策略问卷》,对364名大学生进行了调查.结果发现:(1)大学生的学习策略总体水平并没有随着年级的增长而相应地提高;(2)不同年级大学生使用学习策略的特点不完全一致,在元认知策略和情感策略上,一年级学生优于其他年级,而在认知策略和资源管理策略上一年级学生最低;(3)女大学生的认知策略和资源管理策略水平显著高于男大学生;(4)文科大学生的认知策略和资源管理策略水平显著高于理科大学生.     

面孔知觉中特征、结构和整体加工策略的眼动研究

考察面孔知觉中特征加工、结构加工和整体加工三种不同加工方式对应的眼动模式。实验1中, 将以特征信息为主的错乱面孔和以结构信息为主的模糊面孔作为线索刺激, 引发对测试面孔的特征加工和结构加工, 眼动分析表明：特征加工表现为对面孔各特征内更长的凝视时间, 结构加工表现为对面孔各特征间高频的眼跳。实验2采用相同的研究范式, 将完整面孔、轻度错乱面孔和低水平模糊面孔作为线索刺激, 引发对测试面孔除特征加工和结构加工外的另一种加工方式-- 整体加工, 表现为注视点更多地落在测试面孔中央区的鼻子部位以扩大注视范围, 进而把握整张面孔信息。本研究揭示了三种不同面孔加工方式眼动模式的差异。     

学生学习策略的应用及其教师调控

学习策略是当前心理学和教育学研究的重点内容。学生学习中对学习策略的运用在内容和程度上都有不同的表现;相应地,教师对学生策略应用的调控也体现出不同的风格。继而,学习策略的应用与教师对学习策略的调控彼此之问经常产生相互的作用与冲突,教师需要在策略指导与教学中注意这一点。     

Configural processing and face viewpoint

Configural/holistic processing, a key property of face recognition, has previously been examined only for front views of faces. Here, 6 experiments tested front (0 degrees ), three-quarter (45 degrees ), and profile views (90 degrees ), using composite and peripheral inversion tasks. Results showed an overall disadvantage in identifying profiles. This arose entirely from part-based processing: View effects were as strong for disrupted-configuration faces (inverted, misaligned, scrambled) as for normal-configuration faces. In contrast, configural processing (aligned-misaligned difference, upright-inverted difference) was equally strong for all views under both clear and degraded viewing conditions. Findings argue that, although part-based processing is weakened by lower natural frequency of the profile view and/or occlusion of key face features, neither of these variables influences configural processing. This suggests that the functional role of configural processing is to allow reliable face identification despite substantial variance in local information across different natural images. Results also show that only image-plane rotation of faces (upright through inverted) affects configural processing; the contrast with depth rotation has potential implications for understanding the origin of configural processing in terms of innate versus experience-based expertise contributions.     

学习策略与程序性知识迁移关系的研究

本研究以学习者拥有领域知识的水平差异为基点 ,结合元认知监控手段 ,考察学习策略与程序性知识迁移之间的关系。结果表明 :(1 )以揭发意义或价值、建立新旧知识信息间实质性联结的解释策略对拥有高、低领域知识组的被试具有明显促进问题解决的作用 ;而以相似性为基础的练习策略往往在学生头脑中建立的是新旧知识间表面特征的联结 ,因而程序化技能的迁移范围不如前者。 (2 )在运用获得的认知技能碰到阻碍时 ,解释策略不仅使高知组被试能够突破无关变量的影响 ,而且也在一定程度上弥补低知组被试掌握的规则缺陷。     

Configural associations in discrimination learning

In 4 experiments, Sprague-Dawley rats and homing pigeons received training with an A+ AB0 BC+ discrimination, in which food (+) accompanied trials with A and BC. Food was not presented (0) on trials with the compound AB. Subsequent test trials revealed that responding during C by itself, or the compound ABC, was slower than during either A or BC. Responding during the ABC compound was also found to be slower after training with the A+ AB0 BC+ than an A0 AB+ BC+ discrimination. We argue that these findings demonstrate the importance of configural associations in discrimination learning. Two accounts for the way in which these associations exert their influence are considered.     

面孔识别中的构形加工与特征加工

面孔信息的分类方法一直复杂多样, 相关研究数据丰富, 但所用概念混杂。构形加工与特征加工作为使用最频繁的分类方法, 其可靠性越来越受研究者们关注。从近40年来的相关文献中选择引用率高的文献做参考, 遵循不同研究方法相互印证的原则分析数据, 提出构形加工与特征加工的区分是面孔识别中重要并且可靠的加工类型划分, 但确认两者在知觉加工上的先后关系以及在个体发展上的先后顺序尚缺乏稳定一致性的实验依据。     

The Cubberley Conference and the Evolution of Observational Learning Strategies

The 1965 Cubberley Conference at Stanford University was an important milestone for the counseling profession. For many, this conference provided the impetus for the development of an empirical model for counseling. More specifically, it was the first major attempt to propose the application of behavioral principles to the counseling process. It also represents the beginning of a period from which considerable research and a variety of innovative counseling interventions emanated. This article discusses the evolution of one of these strategies—social modeling—and how this strategy fostered the development and sophistication of more specific observational learning techniques, such as self-observation and self-modeling.     

Configural information in gender categorisation

The role of configural information in gender categorisation was studied by aligning the top half of one face with the bottom half of another. The two faces had the same or different genders. Experiment 1 shows that participants were slower and made more errors in categorising the gender in either half of these composite faces when the two faces had a different gender, relative to control conditions where the two faces were nonaligned or had the same gender. This result parallels the composite effect for face recognition (Young et al, 1987 Perception 16 747-759) and facial-expression recognition (Calder et al, 2000 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 26 527-551). Similarly to responses to face identity and expression, the composite effect on gender discrimination was disrupted by inverting the faces (experiment 2). Both experiments also show that the composite paradigm is sensitive to general contextual interference in gender categorisation.     

Configural representations in spatial working memory

Two studies investigate the nature of representations in spatial working memory, directly addressing the question of whether people represent the configuration information above and beyond independent positional information when representing multiple sequentially presented locations. In Experiment 1, participants performed a location memory task in which they recalled the location of objects that were presented sequentially on a screen. Comparison of participants' data with simulated data modelled to represent independent positional representation of spatial locations revealed that participants represented the configural properties of shorter sequences (3 and 4 locations) but not of longer ones (5 and 7 locations). Experiment 2 employed a sequential recognition task in which participants were asked to judge whether two consequently presented spatial sequences were identical. These experiments confirmed sensitivity to configural properties of spatial sequences.     

Configural learning without configural training.

Rats learned discriminations in which 2 familiar compound visual stimuli AB and CD were nonreinforced, whereas less-familiar compounds (EF, GH, IJ...) were reinforced (constant-negative paradigm). Such discriminations can in principle be acquired through elemental (nonconfigural) learning. Three different types of compound--object/object, object/position, and shape/fill-pattern--were used, and the number of familiar compounds extended to 3 or 4. In all cases, when rats were tested for the first time with previously unseen recombinations of the familiar elements--for example, AC, BD--they preferred these to the familiar compounds, implying that they had encoded configural information during the original training. Moreover, preference remained constant despite extended exposure to configural training in the test phase. The findings extend the evidence that configural representations are formed independently of explicit configural training.     

Configural encoding in visual feature binding

The role of configural encoding in feature binding was assessed using the change detection paradigm. Experiment 1 studied the relevance of location in colour–shape binding with study–test intervals ranging from 0 to 4100 ms. Location was rendered irrelevant by randomising it from study to test display or was kept unchanged from study to test. Results revealed differences between these two conditions at 0 and 200 ms, but not at 1500, 2800, and 4100 ms, suggesting that location was important for feature binding in the initial stages, but performance at longer study–test intervals was impervious to change in locations. Experiment 2 studied the effect of increasing the study-display duration by comparing performance with display durations of 200, 900, and 1500 ms, at the study test intervals of 0 and 2000 ms. Although, there was a general increase in the level of performance with increasing display duration, the interaction effect obtained in Experiment 1 was replicated. Experiments 3 and 4 studied the effect of sequential presentation of stimuli, otherwise retaining the design and procedure of Experiment 2. Different levels of performance in Experiments 2, 3, and 4 revealed the role of configural encoding in the binding process.     

Configural information in facial expression perception

Composite facial expressions were prepared by aligning the top half of one expression (e.g., anger) with the bottom half of another (e.g., happiness). Experiment 1 shows that participants are slower to identify the expression in either half of these composite images relative to a "noncomposite" control condition in which the 2 halves are misaligned. This parallels the composite effect for facial identity (A. W. Young, D. Hellawell, & D. C. Hay, 1987), and like its identity counterpart, the effect is disrupted by inverting the stimuli (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 shows that no composite effect is found when the top and bottom sections contain different models' faces posing the same expression; this serves to exclude many nonconfigural interpretations of the composite effect (e.g., that composites are more "attention-grabbing" than noncomposites). Finally, Experiment 4 demonstrates that the composite effects for identity and expression operate independently of one another.     

Social Learning Strategies in Networked Groups

When making decisions, humans can observe many kinds of information about others' activities, but their effects on performance are not well understood. We investigated social learning strategies using a simple problem‐solving task in which participants search a complex space, and each can view and imitate others' solutions. Results showed that participants combined multiple sources of information to guide learning, including payoffs of peers' solutions, popularity of solution elements among peers, similarity of peers' solutions to their own, and relative payoffs from individual exploration. Furthermore, performance was positively associated with imitation rates at both the individual and group levels. When peers' payoffs were hidden, popularity and similarity biases reversed, participants searched more broadly and randomly, and both quality and equity of exploration suffered. We conclude that when peers' solutions can be effectively compared, imitation does not simply permit scrounging, but it can also facilitate propagation of good solutions for further cumulative exploration.     

Configural processing and perceptions of head tilt

Configural processing is important for face recognition, but its role in other types of face processing is unclear. In the present study, participants made judgments of head tilt for faces in which the vertical position of the internal facial region was varied. We found a highly reliable relationship between inner-face position and perceived head tilt. We also found that changes in inner-face position affected the perceived dimensions of an individual unchanged facial feature: compared to control faces, nearly two-thirds of faces in which the features had been moved down were judged to have a longer nose. This finding suggests an early integration of configural and featural processing to create a stable holistic percept of the face. The demonstration of holistic processing at a basic perceptual level (as opposed to during face recognition) is important as it constrains possible models of the relationships between featural and configural processing.     

Configural face processing: a meta-analytic survey

In the field of face processing, the configural hypothesis is defended by many researchers. It is often claimed that this thesis is robustly supported by a large number of experiments exploring the face-inversion effect, the composite face effect, the face superiority effect, and the negative face effect. However, this claim is generally based on a rudimentary and approximate vote-counting approach. In this paper, I use meta-analyses to examine the relevant literature in more depth. The analysis supports the vote-counting argument.     

小学生数学学习策略的运用与发展特点

考察小学生学习策略运用的状况与发展特点是对小学生进行有效策略指导的前提。本研究采用自编的有较高信、效度的《小学生效学学习策略》量表,对658名小学生进行测查,结果表明：小学生的数学元认知策略和认知策略的使用都约高于“一半符合”的3分临界值之上．小学生的元认知策略的发展高于认知策略．小学生的元认知与认知策略有非常显著的高相关;学校是影响小学生学习策略发展的重要因素,不同学校小学生策略的使用有显著差异,年级、性别对小学生的学习策略的使用无明显影响,本研究支持了小学生的学习策略的发展未随年龄的增长而增长的观点。     

Configural coding of facial expressions: The impact of inversion and photographic negative

In previous research we used the composite paradigm (Young, Hellawell, & Hay, ) to demonstrate that configural cues are important for interpreting facial expressions. However, different configural cues in face perception have been identified, including holistic processing (i.e., perception of facial features as a single gestalt) and second‐order spatial relations (i.e., the spatial relationship between individual features). Previous research has suggested that the composite effect for facial identity operates at the level of holistic encoding. Here we show that the composite effect for facial expression has a similar perceptual basis by using different graphic manipulations (stimulus inversion and photographic negative) in conjunction with the composite paradigm. In relation to Bruce and Young's () functional model of face recognition, a suitable level for the composite effect is a stage of front‐end processing referred to as structural encoding, that is common to both facial identity and facial expression perception.