The effects of funny and serious task content and expectations of fun versus importance on children's cognitive performance

This study investigated how children's performance on a cognitive task was influenced by funny and serious task content, and by fun or important instructions. Eighty‐four children in Grades 1 and 5 performed two versions of a paired‐associates word‐learning task, which paired nonsense words with novel definitions and illustrations. All children completed a version in which the definitions and illustrations were funny, and a version in which they were not, with either fun or important instructions. Results revealed significantly better performance on the funny than on the serious version, but only when the funny version was presented first. There were no significant effects of task instructions. The findings confirm that making children's cognitive tasks funnier can enhance task performance. Although there were no effects of expectations as created by task instructions, the enhancing effect of funny content was influenced by children's expectations as created by their prior experience with the task.     

Positive mood is associated with the implicit use of distraction

Previous research demonstrates that individuals in a positive mood are differentially distracted by irrelevant information during an ongoing task (Rowe et al. in Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:383–388, 2007). The present study investigated whether susceptibility to distraction shown by individuals in a positive mood results in greater implicit memory for that distraction. Participants performed a similarity-judgment task on pictures that were superimposed with distracting words. When these previously distracting words could be used as solutions on a delayed implicit task administered several minutes later, performance was positively correlated with pleasantness of mood. Individuals in a positive mood are more likely than others to use previously irrelevant information to facilitate performance on a subsequent implicit task, a finding with implications for the relationship between positive mood and creativity.     

因果信息在贝叶斯推理中的作用:问题情境的调节

以大学生为被试,考察因果信息在不同贝叶斯推理问题中的作用。结果表明:(1)问题情境的主效应显著(F(1,122)=16.33,p0.05,η~2=0.120),因果信息的主效应不显著((F(1,122)=1.161,p=0.283,η~2=0.01),但问题类型和因果信息的交互作用显著(F(1,122)=4.757,p0.05,η~2=0.038)。(2)不同类型的问题上因果信息的作用是不同的。具体表现为,在乳癌问题中,增加了因果信息,被试的正确率明显提高(χ~2(1)=6.759,p0.05,V=0.607),而在中彩问题中没有因果信息的推理成绩反而更好(χ~2(1)=1.864,p=0.221,V=0.167)。     

热执行功能对儿童标准窗口任务测试的影响

主要考察热执行功能对3~4岁儿童标准窗口任务测试的影响。实验采取3×3的被试间设计。设置了3种条件：标准指示、“强化竞争”指示和无对手指示;将随机抽取的270名被试分为3个年龄段,以检测3~4儿童在窗口任务中的认知发展趋势。结果表明：⑴热执行功能也是影响3~4儿童标准窗口任务测试的一个主要因素;⑵3岁后期是3~4岁儿童在标准窗口任务中所体现出来的认知发展差异的分界年龄;⑶3~4岁儿童在窗口任务中还表现出规则推理能力的差异     

Running with emotion: When affective content hampers working memory performance

This study tested the hypothesis that affective content may undermine rather than facilitate working memory (WM) performance. To this end, participants performed a running WM task with positive, negative and neutral words. In typical running memory tasks, participants are presented with lists of unpredictable length and are asked to recall the last three or four items. We found that accuracy with affective words decreased as lists lengthened, whereas list length did not influence recall of neutral words. We interpreted this pattern of results in terms of a limited resource model of WM in which valence represents additional information that needs to be manipulated, especially in the context of difficult trials.     

双重作业的颜色编码方式对作业绩效的影响

研究探讨了不同颜色编码方式对双重任务操作绩效的影响。实验结果证明：若采用同类颜色编码方式,同时操作的两种作业就会产生结构限制,降低双重任务操作绩效;相反,若采用异常颜色编码方式,将有效地减少双重任务操作的结构限制,使双重任务的操作绩效得到提高。     

New Insights into the role of the phonological loop in task switching: evidence from three different age groups

ABSTRACT

The phonological loop plays an important role in task switching. Until now, however, it has been unclear whether it is the maintenance of the task sequence or the retrieval of the task goal that requires phonological processing. In the present study, 60 participants (20 children, 20 adolescents, 20 young adults) performed three phonological working-memory tests before they switched between two tasks in a cue-present condition (random task sequence) and in a cue-absent condition (predictable task sequence). Results revealed that better phonological and central-executive working-memory performance predicted lower switch costs. In line with age-differentiation of cognitive abilities switching was less coupled with working memory in adults compared to children and adolescents. Interestingly, however, relations were only demonstrated in the cue-present but not in the cue-absent condition, indicating that it is more the retrieval of the task goal than the maintenance of the task sequence that requires the involvement of phonological processing.     

自我客体化的女性对身体线索的注意和记忆偏向

采用点探测任务和再认任务探讨高低自我客体化女性对积极身体词和消极身体词的注意和记忆偏向,探讨自我客体化女性的糟糕任务表现的内在机制。结果发现,高自我客体化女性对积极身体词存在注意脱离困难,对积极身体词的反应时显著快于低自我客体化女性。研究结果证实了自我客体化女性存在对身体线索的注意和记忆偏向,说明自我客体化使女性对身体相关信息分配了更多的认知资源,会妨碍任务表现。     

自我客体化的女性对身体线索的注意和记忆偏向

采用点探测任务和再认任务探讨高低自我客体化女性对积极身体词和消极身体词的注意和记忆偏向,探讨自我客体化女性的糟糕任务表现的内在机制。结果发现,高自我客体化女性对积极身体词存在注意脱离困难,对积极身体词的反应时显著快于低自我客体化女性。研究结果证实了自我客体化女性存在对身体线索的注意和记忆偏向,说明自我客体化使女性对身体相关信息分配了更多的认知资源,会妨碍任务表现。     

Effects of the emotional properties of words and a manipulation of mindset on performance of an ambiguous task

In this study, we investigated whether processing of an ambiguous task was influenced by the emotional properties of words or promotion of a specific mindset. Words used differed in valence and origin of an affective state (derived “from heart” or “from mind”). Mindset was manipulated by suggesting that either fast or slow performance was associated with cleverness and then having participants perform a task requiring the “smart” processing strategy. The ambiguous task was to choose which of 2 Far East hexagrams better represented a previously presented target word. Reaction latencies were measured and appeared to be longer for ambiguous task probes involving words of reflective origin rather than automatic or unspecified origin. Promotion of heuristic thinking was associated with shorter responses latencies than promotion of systematic or neutral processing. The study demonstrated that the processing mode may be promoted by means of both emotional and cognitive manipulations and each of them is working in a specific way.     

The automatic activation of emotion words measured using the emotional face-word Stroop task in late Chinese–English bilinguals

In the current study, late Chinese–English bilinguals performed a facial expression identification task with emotion words in the task-irrelevant dimension, in either their first language (L1) or second language (L2). The investigation examined the automatic access of the emotional content in words appearing in more than one language. Significant congruency effects were present for both L1 and L2 emotion word processing. Furthermore, the magnitude of emotional face-word Stroop effect in the L1 task was greater as compared to the L2 task, indicating that in L1 participants could access the emotional information in words in a more reliable manner. In summary, these findings provide more support for the automatic access of emotional information in words in the bilinguals’ two languages as well as attenuated emotionality of L2 processing.     

Mood-dependent memory for generated and repeated words: Replication and extension

Abstract

Mood-dependent memory (MDM) has been difficult to demonstrate, but Eich and Metcalfe (1989) reported a strong effect with music-induced moods and learning of self-generated responses. Bower and Mayer (1989), however, could not obtain the MDM effect with self-generated responses. The present experiment attempted to replicate Eich and Metcalfe, but induced positive and negative moods with self-referent statements rather than music. Sixty-four subjects (32 males, 32 females) were randomly assigned in equal numbers to one of four mood conditions, same or opposite mood at learning and testing. At learning, immediately following mood induction subjects (Ss) generated 16 response words and 16 repeated words. Forty-eight hours later, Ss were given recall and recognition tests. For recall, there was a significant learn mood by test mood interaction (P < 0.0001), with greater recall for generated than repeated words (P < 0.0001). The interaction for repeated words approached significance (P = 0.07). For recognition memory, the learn by test mood interaction was also significant (P = 0.03), with a significant interaction (P = 0.02) for repeated words, but not for generated words (P = 0.23). An analysis of the Eich and Metcalfe data and ours suggests that the generation procedure only produced better memory overall and that under some conditions (but not all) this level of memory was optimal for demonstrating MDM.     

Musical expertise has minimal impact on dual task performance

Studies investigating effect of practice on dual task performance have yielded conflicting findings, thus supporting different theoretical accounts about the organisation of attentional resources when tasks are performed simultaneously. Because practice has been proven to reduce the demand of attention for the trained task, the impact of long-lasting training on one task is an ideal way to better understand the mechanisms underlying dual task decline in performance. Our study compared performance during dual task execution in expert musicians compared to controls with little if any musical experience. Participants performed a music recognition task and a visuo-spatial task separately (single task) or simultaneously (dual task). Both groups showed a significant but similar performance decline during dual tasks. In addition, the two groups showed a similar decline of dual task performance during encoding and retrieval of the musical information, mainly attributed to a decline in sensitivity. Our results suggest that attention during dual tasks is similarly distributed by expert and non-experts. These findings are in line with previous studies showing a lack of sensitivity to difficulty and lack of practice effect during dual tasks, supporting the idea that different tasks may rely on different and not-sharable attentional resources.     

Effects of induced emotional state on lexical processing in younger and older adults

The authors investigated the effects of an induced emotional mood state on lexical decision task (LDT) performance in 50 young adults and 25 older adults. Participants were randomly assigned to either happy or sad mood induction conditions. An emotional mood state was induced by having the participants listen to 8 min of classical music previously rated to induce happy or sad moods. Results replicated previous studies with young adults (i.e., sad-induced individuals responded faster to sad words and happy-induced individuals responded faster to happy words) and extended this pattern to older adults. Results are discussed with regard to information processing, aging, and emotion.     

Effects of Induced Emotional State on Lexical Processing in Younger and Older Adults

The authors investigated the effects of an induced emotional mood state on lexical decision task (LDT) performance in 50 young adults and 25 older adults. Participants were randomly assigned to either happy or sad mood induction conditions. An emotional mood state was induced by having the participants listen to 8 min of classical music previously rated to induce happy or sad moods. Results replicated previous studies with young adults (i.e., sad-induced individuals responded faster to sad words and happy-induced individuals responded faster to happy words) and extended this pattern to older adults. Results are discussed with regard to information processing, aging, and emotion.     

“Not Thinking” Helps Reasoning

Despite previous research suggesting that participants’ negative and positive emotions can impair and facilitate reasoning performance, a recent study proposes that the emotional content of the mood induction materials may not be crucial in eliciting these phenomena—deontic selection task performance is as poor when these materials are neutral as when they are negative (Perham and Oaksford 2006). We extend this finding to syllogistic reasoning performance. Participants in the mood induction conditions (negative and neutral) verbally described their experiences in relation to twenty negative or neutral words whereas participants in the control condition received no such mood induction. Subsequent syllogistic reasoning performance was significantly poorer for both mood induction conditions yet only those in the negative mood induction condition showed a significant increase in anxiety. Results imply that the key mechanism involved in the impairment derives from the production of irrelevant thoughts and that these need not be linked to a positive or negative mood, thus “not thinking” may actually help the reasoning process.     

情绪状态对不同年龄儿童定势转换的影响

采用情绪影片引发情绪的方法,考察64名8~12岁儿童在正负情绪状态下定势转换能力的表现。研究为4(年龄)×2(情绪)×3(重复转换条件:重复、短时转换、长时转换)3因素重复测量混合设计。结果表明,情绪状态对任务转换产生了影响,可能是积极情绪比消极情绪对任务定势的长时转换削弱更大。不同年龄的儿童在这两种任务转换条件中没有出现显著的年龄差异,说明8~12岁儿童均已具备在两个任务之间进行即时转换的能力。     

Delighted and distracted: positive affect increases priming for irrelevant information

Emotional states are known to influence how people process relevant information. Here, we address the impact of emotional state on irrelevant information. In this experiment, participants were randomly assigned to a neutral or positive mood induction, and then completed a task that involved viewing a sequence of overlapping pictures and words. They were instructed to attend to the pictures and ignore the distracting words. Following a filled interval, implicit memory for the distracting words was tested using a word fragment completion task. Individuals in the positive mood group showed increased implicit memory for previously irrelevant information compared to those in the neutral mood group. These findings are consistent with the view that positive mood broadens attention to include encoding of irrelevant information in the environment, and this can impact subsequent performance.     

Two Factors to be Considered in the Design of Experiments in Anxiety and Motor Behavior

The authors examined the influence that attentional focus on either a postural or a suprapostural task had on the performance of each task. Participants (N = 32) stood on an inflated rubber disk and held a pole horizontally. All participants performed under 4 attentional focus conditions: external (disk) or internal (feet) focus on the postural task, and external (pole) or internal (hands) focus on the suprapostural task. Compared with internal focuses, external focuses on either task resulted in similar and reduced postural sway. Response frequency on each task increased when participants focused on the respective task. Finally, an external focus on either task produced higher frequencies of responding on the suprapostural task. The authors conclude that suprapostural task goals have a stronger influence on postural control than vice versa, reflecting the propensity of the motor system to optimize control processes on the basis of the desired movement effect.     

Can the memory enhancement of the survival judgment task be explained by the elaboration hypothesis?: Evidence from a memory load paradigm1

Many reports have described a survival judgment task that requires participants to judge words according to their relevance to a survival situation, eliciting better recall than that obtained in other judgment tasks (e.g., semantic or self‐judgment tasks). Two explanatory hypotheses (the adaptive hypothesis and the elaboration hypothesis) have been proposed. Here we used the memory load paradigm to investigate whether the adaptive hypothesis or the combination hypothesis can better account for the memory enhancement of the survival judgment task. We used a survival judgment task and an autobiographical recall task with the condition of no memory load or memory load. The 48 participants performed four encoding conditions (memory load—survival, no memory load—survival, memory load—autobiographical, and no memory load—autobiographical). The results showed that memory enhancement of the survival judgment task occurred only in the no memory load condition, but not in the memory load condition. Our results support the elaboration hypothesis. We also discuss the validity of the elaboration hypothesis and future directions to be pursued in this research field.