The establishment of stimulus control by instructions and by differential reinforcement

A repeated acquisition design was used to study the effects of instructions and differential reinforcement on the performance of complex chains by undergraduates. The chains required responding on a series of keys that corresponded to characters that appeared on a monitor. Each day, subjects performed a new chain in a learning session and later relearned the same chain in a test session. Experiment 1 replicated previous research by showing that instructional stimuli paired with the correct responses in the learning sessions, combined with differential reinforcement in both learning and test sessions, resulted in stimulus control by the characters in each link. Experiment 2 separated the effects of instructional stimuli and differential reinforcement, and showed that stimulus control by the characters could be established solely by differential reinforcement during the test sessions. Experiment 3 showed that when a rule specified the relation between learning and test sessions, some subjects performed accurately in the test sessions without exposure to any differential consequences. This rule apparently altered the stimulus control properties of the characters much as did differential reinforcement during testing. However, compared to differential reinforcement, the rule established stimulus control more quickly.     

错误再认:意识、注意和刺激特性

该研究基于错误再认现象,确立了意识知觉和无意识知觉在行为结果上的质的差异。在决定一个刺激是被有意识知觉还是无意识知觉时,刺激特性和注意之间存在着相互补偿的作用。实验一表明,当一个刺激短暂呈现而被无意识知觉的时候,增强刺激特性或提高注意水平都能使它的知觉变为有意识的;相对应地,实验二表明,一个处于分散注意条件下被无意识知觉的刺激,也可以通过使注意集中或增强刺激特性而使它的知觉变为有意识的。该研究对意识、注意和刺激特性三者间的关系进行了讨论。     

Changing the working self alters the emotions prompted by recall

Results from three studies indicated that emotional responses to memories can be changed by altering the working self. In particular, these results showed that emotional reactions to memories: (1) were especially positive when memories were perceived to be central to the working self (Experiment 1); (2) were muted when the working self was changed by adopting a third-person perspective during recall (Experiment 1); (3) of an event in the life of each participant's mother weakened when an individual was induced to experience a self that felt less close to their mother (Experiment 2) and (4) of a childhood event provoked especially positive emotional reactions after exposure to a mortality salience manipulation that increased perceived self-worth (Experiment 3). The extent to which mother was included in the self (Experiment 2) and self-worth (Experiment 3) plausibly mediated the effects of the manipulations on participants' emotional reactions to recalled events.     

书面字形在汉语低年级儿童口语词汇学习中的作用

采用配对联想学习范式, 通过2个实验, 系统考察了书面字形在汉语低年级儿童口语词汇学习中的作用。实验一以40名二年级学生为研究对象, 控制了假字的形旁透明度, 操纵了声旁的规则性, 要求儿童分别在规则字、不规则字和无字形条件下学习4个新异物体的名称, 结果发现呈现不规则汉字阻碍了儿童口语词汇的学习;实验二以27名一年级学生为研究对象, 采用相同的配对联想学习范式, 同时操纵了假字的声旁规则性和形旁透明度, 再次发现了不规则汉字的阻碍效应, 并且发现透明形旁对口语词汇学习的促进作用。整个研究表明, 书面字形在汉语儿童口语词汇学习中具有重要作用, 这对今后的教学实践和理论研究都具有重要启示意义。     

Scented memories of literature

This study examined the effects on recall of story details of congruity or incongruity between the hedonic valence of literary texts and odours inhaled while reading them. During the reading session, 24 undergraduates (12 males and 12 females) read two passages involving positive subject matter and two with negative subject matter while sniffing pleasant or unpleasant odours in a within-subject fully counterbalanced design. Subjects rated their experience of each text on eleven 7-point scales. During the test session 48 hours later, subjects read a two-word title associated with each of the passages and inhaled the odour that was paired with it in the reading session. They also rated their experience on six of the scales that had been used during the reading session. Results showed that hedonic congruence between the passage and the odour fostered enhanced recall during the test session. The combination of positive subject matter and positive odour was reflected in more accurate recall of character details, while pairing negative subject matter and negative odour resulted in more accurate recall of setting details. Regression analysis showed that overall recall accuracy was increased by identifying with the characters in the stories and for passages that were found pleasing and personally meaningful. Consistent with the literature on implicit learning involving odours, recall accuracy varied inversely with perceived odour intensity. Implicit learning involving odours and literary passages is therefore fostered by unity in the reading experience.     

Scented memories of literature

This study examined the effects on recall of story details of congruity or incongruity between the hedonic valence of literary texts and odours inhaled while reading them. During the reading session, 24 undergraduates (12 males and 12 females) read two passages involving positive subject matter and two with negative subject matter while sniffing pleasant or unpleasant odours in a within‐subject fully counterbalanced design. Subjects rated their experience of each text on eleven 7‐point scales. During the test session 48 hours later, subjects read a two‐word title associated with each of the passages and inhaled the odour that was paired with it in the reading session. They also rated their experience on six of the scales that had been used during the reading session. Results showed that hedonic congruence between the passage and the odour fostered enhanced recall during the test session. The combination of positive subject matter and positive odour was reflected in more accurate recall of character details, while pairing negative subject matter and negative odour resulted in more accurate recall of setting details. Regression analysis showed that overall recall accuracy was increased by identifying with the characters in the stories and for passages that were found pleasing and personally meaningful. Consistent with the literature on implicit learning involving odours, recall accuracy varied inversely with perceived odour intensity. Implicit learning involving odours and literary passages is therefore fostered by unity in the reading experience.     

汉语作为第二语言的越南大学生汉字部件意识的发展*

以226名将汉语作为第二语言的越南大学一到四年级学生为研究对象,以低频独体字、部件熟悉假字和部件不熟悉假字为材料,采用延迟书写任务,考察了不同年级的越南大学生汉字部件意识的发展及其影响因素。结果发现：（1）学习3个月汉语的大一学生能以部件作为汉字加工单元,其延迟书写部件熟悉假字显著好于低频独体字,并与高年级学生没有差异,说明越南大学生很早就发展出了汉字部件意识;（2）不同年级大学生书写部件不熟悉假字的成绩都显著低于部件熟悉假字,也低于低频独体字,表明部件构字能力是越南大学生汉字书写的重要影响因素。（3）越南大一学生的汉字书写成绩受到汉字结构的影响,左右结构优于上下结构,但其他年级的成绩不受汉字结构的影响。     

内隐学习中东巴文促进幼儿汉字字形记忆的研究

采用任务分离范式考察了内隐学习中只学汉字、结合图画学习汉字、结合东巴文学习汉字对幼儿汉字字形记忆的影响。幼儿通过颜色判断任务进行学习。实验1采用再认任务考察学习方式对汉字字形外显记忆的影响。实验2采用偏好判断任务考察学习方式对汉字字形内隐记忆的影响。研究发现, 在伴随学习条件下, 东巴文能够促进幼儿对汉字字形的外显记忆, 东巴文可以成为幼儿汉字学习的工具。     

Incidental learning of trust from eye-gaze: Effects of race and facial trustworthiness

Humans rapidly make inferences about individuals’ trustworthiness on the basis of their facial features and perceived group membership. We examine whether incidental learning about trust from shifts in gaze direction is influenced by these facial features. To do so, we examined two types of face category: the race of the face and the initial trustworthiness of the face based on physical appearance. We find that cueing of attention by eye-gaze is unaffected by race or initial levels of trust, whereas incidental learning of trust from gaze behaviour is selectively influenced. That is, learning of trust is reduced for other-race faces, as predicted by reduced abilities to identify members of other races (Experiment 1). In contrast, converging findings from an independently gathered set of data showed that the initial trustworthiness of faces did not influence learning of trust (Experiment 2). These results show that learning about the behaviour of other-race faces is poorer than for own-race faces, but that this cannot be explained by differences in the perceived trustworthiness of different groups.     

Intentions and expectations in temporal binding

Recently, it has been shown that the perceived times of voluntary movements and their effects are perceived as shifted towards each other. This temporal binding phenomenon was explained by an integrated representation of movement and effect, facilitating operant learning and the experience of intentionality. Here, we investigated whether temporal binding depends on explicit intentional attributions. In Experiment 1, participants intended to either produce or avoid producing an effect (a tone) by the timing of their movements, with the ratio of success being fixed at 2:1. In Experiments 2 and 3, the influence of the action-effect contingency ratio on temporal binding was controlled for by removing the intentional attribution of the effect. The results indicate that temporal binding is a general associative mechanism that facilitates the learning of movement-effect contingencies. Beyond that, temporal binding is sensitive to explicit intentional attributions, which selectively enhance the link between an intentional movement and the effect a moving agent intends to produce.     

汉字频率和构词数对非汉字圈学生汉字学习的影响

探讨汉字频率和构词数对非汉字文化圈的留学生汉字学习效果的影响。实验要求被试对已学过的不同频率和构词数的汉字写出拼音并组词,结果显示,汉字频率对汉字学习效果有影响,而且频率效应的大小受笔画数的制约;实验未发现构词数对汉字学习效果的影响。研究结果表明,语言输入的频率是影响汉语习得的一个重要因素     

学习和测验经验对学习判断中UWP效应的影响

针对重复学习判断中出现的练习伴随低估效应（UWP效应）,目前存在多种理论解释。本研究基于过去测验记忆假说,在学习阶段和测验阶段引入两种判断：学习判断准确性的判断和回溯性信心判断,通过两个实验考察学习经验和测验经验对UWP效应的影响。结果发现：在学习判断中学习判断准确性的判断和回溯性信心判断均消除了UWP效应,间接证明了学习和测验经验均影响到UWP效应的出现。     

Avoiding minorities: Social invisibility

Three experiments examined how self‐consciousness has an impact on the visual exploration of a social field. The main hypothesis was that merely a photograph of people can trigger a dynamic process of social visual interaction such that minority images are avoided when people are in a state of self‐reflective consciousness. In all three experiments, pairs of pictures—one with characters of social minorities and one with characters of social majorities—were shown to the participants. By means of eye‐tracking technology, the results of Experiment 1 (n = 20) confirmed the hypothesis that in the reflective consciousness condition, people look more at the majority than minority characters. The results of Experiment 2 (n = 89) confirmed the hypothesis that reflective consciousness also induces avoiding reciprocal visual interaction with minorities. Finally, by manipulating the visual interaction (direct vs. non‐direct) with the photos of minority and majority characters, the results of Experiment 3 (n = 56) confirmed the hypothesis that direct visual interaction with minority characters is perceived as being longer and more aversive. The overall conclusion is that self‐reflective consciousness leads people to avoid visual interaction with social minorities, consigning them to social invisibility. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

产品空间位置、价格音节长度对消费者价格感知的影响

本研究采用实验法考察了视听单通道及双通道下产品空间位置与价格音节长度对消费者价格感知的潜在影响。结果发现,呈现在空间右侧以及以较长音节播放的产品使得被试的价格感知升高;短音节条件下,个体对空间右侧产品的价格感知显著高于空间左侧,长音节条件下两侧则无显著差异;相对于单通道刺激呈现,视听通道呈现信息一致时出现信息冗余效应,个体判断的速度更快,验证了共激活模型假设,视听不一致条件下的速度降低则支持了预测编码模型。     

产品空间位置、价格音节长度对消费者价格感知的影响

本研究采用实验法考察了视听单通道及双通道下产品空间位置与价格音节长度对消费者价格感知的潜在影响。结果发现,呈现在空间右侧以及以较长音节播放的产品使得被试的价格感知升高;短音节条件下,个体对空间右侧产品的价格感知显著高于空间左侧,长音节条件下两侧则无显著差异;相对于单通道刺激呈现,视听通道呈现信息一致时出现信息冗余效应,个体判断的速度更快,验证了共激活模型假设,视听不一致条件下的速度降低则支持了预测编码模型。     

TEACHING RECEPTIVE NAMING OF CHINESE CHARACTERS TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM BY INCORPORATING ECHOLALIA

The facilitative effect of incorporating echolalia on teaching receptive naming of Chinese characters to children with autism was assessed. In Experiment 1, echoing the requested character name prior to the receptive naming task facilitated matching a character to its name. In addition, task performance was consistently maintained only when echolalia preceded the receptive manual response. Positive results from generalization tests suggested that learned responses occurred across various novel conditions. In Experiment 2, we examined the relation between task difficulty and speed of acquisition. All 3 participants achieved 100% correct responding in training, but learning less discriminable characters took more trials than learning more discriminable characters. These results provide support for incorporating echolalia as an educational tool within language instruction for some children with autism.     

Effects of concurrent load on feature- and rule-based generalization in human contingency learning

The effect of concurrent load on generalization performance in human contingency learning was examined in 2 experiments that employed the combined positive and negative patterning procedure of Shanks and Darby (1998). In Experiment 1, we tested 32 undergraduates and found that participants who were trained and tested under full attention showed generalization consistent with the application of an opposites rule (i.e., single cues signal the opposite outcome to their compound), whereas participants trained and tested under a concurrent cognitive load showed generalization consistent with surface similarity. In Experiment 2, we replicated the effect with 148 undergraduates and provided evidence that it was the presence of concurrent load during training, rather than during testing, that was critical. Implications for associative, inferential, and dual-process accounts of human learning are discussed.     

Positivity can cue familiarity

Given that familiarity is closely associated with positivity, the authors sought evidence for the idea that positivity would increase perceived familiarity. In Experiment 1, smiling and thus positively perceived novel faces were significantly more likely to be incorrectly judged as familiar than novel faces with neutral expressions. In Experiment 2, subliminal association with positive affect (a positively valenced prime) led to false recognition of novel words as familiar. In Experiment 3, validity judgments, known to be influenced by familiarity, were more likely to occur if participants were in happy mood states than neutral mood states. Despite their different paradigms and approaches, the results of these three studies converge on the idea that, at least under certain circumstances, the experience of positivity itself can signal familiarity, perhaps because the experience of familiarity is typically positive.     

Persuading young car drivers to take part in a driving skills test: The influence of regulatory fit on informational-assessment value and persuasion

Two studies were conducted to examine the relative effectiveness of differently framed messages advising young car drivers to take part in a driving skills test. It was hypothesized that messages promoting such detection behaviour should be more persuasive when the message frame was compatible versus incompatible with the recipient’s level of perceived risk. It was also hypothesized that such effects would occur because the “feeling right” experience resulting from the compatibility effects based on regulatory fit could be transferred to the informational-assessment value of the proposed feedback. Consistently, moderate perceived driving skills (Experiment 1) and high perceived risk drivers (Experiment 2) found the driving skills test more valuable for assessment purposes after having read a loss versus gain framed message and consequently, were more interested in taking part in the test. Furthermore, low perceived risk drivers (Experiment 2) showed a reversed pattern of responses. Implications for message framing in the road safety area are discussed.