Electrophysiological difference between the representations of causal judgment and associative judgment in semantic memory

Causally related concepts like “virus” and “epidemic” and general associatively related concepts like “ring” and “emerald” are represented and accessed separately. The Evoked Response Potential (ERP) procedure was used to examine the representations of causal judgment and associative judgment in semantic memory. Participants were required to remember a task cue (causal or associative) presented at the beginning of each trial, and assess whether the relationship between subsequently presented words matched the initial task cue. The ERP data showed that an N400 effect (250–450 ms) was more negative for unrelated words than for all related words. Furthermore, the N400 effect elicited by causal relations was more positive than for associative relations in causal cue condition, whereas no significant difference was found in the associative cue condition. The centrally distributed late ERP component (650–750 ms) elicited by the causal cue condition was more positive than for the associative cue condition. These results suggested that the processing of causal judgment and associative judgment in semantic memory recruited different degrees of attentional and executive resources.     

Testing the semantic differential as a model of task processes with the implicit association test

In this study, we examined the hypothesis that semantic judgment tasks share overlapping processes if they require processing on common dimensions but not if they require processing on orthogonal dimensions in semantic space (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957). We tested the hypothesis with the implicit association test (IATl Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) in three experiments. Consistent with the hypothesis, IAT effects (costs in reaction time because of incompatible response mapping between associated judgment tasks) occurred consistently when judgment tasks tapped into common semantic dimensions, whereas no IAT effect appeared when judgment tasks entailed processing on orthogonal semantic dimensions.     

The comparability of verbal and nonverbal semantic differential scales in a joint semantic space

As an alternative to the verbal Semantic Differential (SD) measure of affective meaning systems, a nonverbal instrument-the Graphic Differential (GD)-has been developed for subject populations who have difficulty in verbal ratings. However, the factor structures of the pictographic scales have never been examined in a joint-verbal and nonverbal-semantic space as to whether their structures are equivalent to the affective systems defined by the verbal markers. The present study assessed this issue by reanalyzing the French (1977) data. The results indicated that when verbal SD and nonverbal GD scales were factor-analyzed separately, the three-dimensional structures of Evaluation (E), Potency (P), and Activity (A) were recaptured in both domains. However, when they were analyzed simultaneously in a joint semantic space, only the E and A dimensions were congruent. The GD P scales carried the meanings of denotative Heaviness, rather than the affective Potency. For future investigation, suggestion was made to systematically study both the affective and denotative semantic features within the contexts of nonverbal communciations.The authors made equal contributions toward the completion of the present research.     

An evaluation of a person-centred gestalt group using the semantic differential

This study assessed the types of attitude changes that occurred among counselling students of a US university who were involved in a person-centred gestalt training group. A semantic differential was used to evaluate the effects of the group. The results showed that the members rated the potency scales of the semantic differential concepts, gestalt therapy, love and future, higher because they participated in the group.     

The role of positive and negative emotions in life satisfaction judgment across nations

This study examined how the frequency of positive and negative emotions is related to life satisfaction across nations. Participants were 8,557 people from 46 countries who reported on their life satisfaction and frequency of positive and negative emotions. Multilevel analyses showed that across nations, the experience of positive emotions was more strongly related to life satisfaction than the absence of negative emotions. Yet, the cultural dimensions of individualism and survival/self-expression moderated these relationships. Negative emotional experiences were more negatively related to life satisfaction in individualistic than in collectivistic nations, and positive emotional experiences had a larger positive relationship with life satisfaction in nations that stress self-expression than in nations that value survival. These findings show how emotional aspects of the good life vary with national culture and how this depends on the values that characterize one's society. Although to some degree, positive and negative emotions might be universally viewed as desirable and undesirable, respectively, there appear to be clear cultural differences in how relevant such emotional experiences are to quality of life.     

次要任务对词类判断任务中权力空间表征激活的影响

许多证据表明权力在大脑中是以垂直空间来进行表征的, 具体而言为言语和视觉空间编码。前人研究发现两种编码具有情境依赖性, 即当前任务决定了激活哪种编码。一般的词类判断任务主要依赖于言语编码。然而仍不确定的是, 当排除言语空间编码后, 词类判断任务能否激活视觉空间编码。本研究拟借助双任务范式探讨此问题。实验结果发现单任务条件下出现权力-空间交互, 并且双任务条件下, 这一交互只受到视觉空间次要任务的干扰。这说明, 词类判断任务也可依赖视觉空间编码, 并进一步支持了权力空间表征的情境依赖性。     

Perceptual dimensions of infant cry signals: a semantic differential analysis

In the present study the Semantic Differential technique was used to examine perceived characteristics of infant cry sounds. 24 cries (6 each of pain, hunger, birth, and "pleasure") were rated by 39 mothers on 50 scales. A factor analysis of the scale ratings uncovered three main factors, labelled Affect, Potency, and Evaluation, respectively. 5 "factorially-pure" scales were selected to represent each factor. A hierarchical cluster analysis of the mean factor-scale ratings uncovered 3 major cry clusters which essentially represented 3 cry-type groups, hunger, pleasure, and pain/birth. A close correspondence was found between this set of clusters and another set generated independently from cry-recognition data, indicating that the semantic differential factor-scales effectively discriminated perceptually distinct cries. This procedure adequately separates the physical (acoustic) properties of signals from their listener-perceived (auditory) ones. This distinction is not possible with studies which depend upon multivariate techniques and casts doubt on their findings.     

School children's responses on a semantic differential over a 10-year span

A semantic differential scale was administered to 208 school children when they were in the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. Their perceptions towards two concepts were measured, Education (going to school) and Work (having a job). Each semantic differential scale had 15 adjective pairs and reflected the three underlying factors of Evaluative, Potency, and Activity. Because the study was conducted for 10 years (ages seven to 18), the changing cognitive developmental stages of the children were expected to influence factor analytic and reliability results. Confirmatory factor analysis, which forced the data into three factors, did not clearly identify the expected three factors, although more items loaded on the three factors with age. An exploratory factor analysis identified a trend across grades from six to four factors over time. Reliability also improved across age groups. Caution should be exercised when using the semantic differential with young children in investigations of abstract concepts.