Distortions in immediate memory

A series of five pairs of abstract geometrical figures were presented to each subject. Unknown to the subjects, the members of each pair were identical. The second member was presented 10 seconds after the first member and the subject then judged whether a specified feature of the figure had changed in one of two possible directions. One group of 32 subjects were not told which feature of the figure would be critical until presentation of the second member: a further group of 32 subjects were given this information before presentation of the first member. Subjects in both groups were significantly consistent with one another in some of their judgements, thus indicating that distortions in remembering had occurred. It is argued that memory distortions of this type (for which previous evidence has been unsatisfactory) are of particular interest since, unlike other memory changes, they are difficult to ascribe to the constructive or inferential character of recognition and recall.     

Distortions in location memory

Memory for the location of a briefly presented target is often distorted in systematic ways. When people remember dot locations within a circular space, they typically show memory biases that appear to reflect a categorical strategy. However, memory for a target location can also be biased toward visible markers or landmarks. In the present study, we investigated the interaction of categorical and landmark effects by providing sectioning lines in a circular space. In the absence of lines, response biases showed categorical effects, whereas in the presence of lines, response biases suggested that participants used a landmark-based scheme. Possible relations between the strategies are discussed.     

支持死后医疗数据捐赠：呼吁对个人健康数据的伦理利用

死后医疗数据捐赠对于科学研究的意义重大。但目前不存在有针对性的准则用于指导捐赠过程。如果死后医疗数据的使用缺乏监管可能会引发多种风险,一是给他人利益造成损害;二是造成数据的不规范使用。因此,应当类比现有捐献制度,允许并鼓励捐献死后医疗数据用于科学研究,并起草专门的捐赠准则。该准则的制定应当建立在遵循五大基本原则的前提下,主张以自愿参与的方式使用个人医疗数据,反对未经书面同意将数据用于以病例档案为基础的医学研究。

     

Distortions in memory for maps

Evidence is presented for systematic errors in memory for real and artificial maps, local environments, and visual forms. These errors are attributed to two heuristics that are derived from principles of perceptual organization. Maps of countries or localities are conceived of as figures in backgrounds. Remembering the absolute location of figures is difficult, and is facilitated by remembering locations relative to other figures and/or relative to the natural directions of the figure. In alignment, figures are lined up relative to one another, a phenomenon related to perceptual grouping by proximity. In rotation, the natural axes induced by a figure converge with frame axes (north-south, east-west, or horizontal, vertical), a phenomenon related to perceptual organization by common fate. Heuristic-induced errors occur in a variety of tasks, and even when subjects are explicitly forewarned. These heuristics may be invoked in forming representations as well as in inference, and function analogously to syntax in locating smaller elements in larger units.     

Distortions of Normativity

We discuss some implications of the Holocaust for moral philosophy. Our thesis is that morality became distorted in the Third Reich at the level of its social articulation. We explore this thesis in application to several front-line perpetrators who maintained false moral self-conceptions. We conclude that more than a priori moral reasoning is required to correct such distortions.     

Distortions in judged spatial relations

In three experiments, we explore distortions in subjects' judgments of relative geographical relations. People make large systematic errors in judging the geographical relations between two locations that are in different geographical or political units. There is a strong tendency to distort the judged relation to conform with the relation of the superordinate political unit. To account for this result, we present a model in which spatial information is stored hierarchically. Spatial relations between any two locations are stored explicitly only if those locations are within the same superordinate unit. Spatial relations not stored are inferred by combining the relations from between and within superordinate units.     

Distortions and fluctuations in topographic memory

Two experiments dealing with, the learning of a space by map or by navigation approached the questions of equivalency of the cognitive processes involved in spatial information and of response fluctuation. In the first experiment, 11 subjects were asked to situate, six times, 18 lo-cations on a blank map. In the second experiment, the subjects were first given 3 min to learn a map with 12 locations marked, and then asked to reproduce it. The task was repeated six times, using three different maps. This gave us several trials per subject, so that distortion could be distinguished from response fluctuation. In Experiment 1, the range of values was the same for response inaccuracy and response, fluctuation; in Experiment 2, the range was greater for response inaccuracy than for response fluctuation. The results showed that space learning by navigation and space learning by map involve different cognitive processes.     

Author Productivity Index: Without Distortions

Science and Engineering Ethics -     

精子捐赠与伦理

引起男性不育的一个重要原因是无精症、死精症。精子捐赠的出现为这些患者带来了福音,使其享受天伦之乐成为可能,但同时也带来了一系列伦理学、社会学上的问题,包括子代的知情权问题、近亲结婚问题、家庭内部矛盾问题等等。因此要准确认识、运用和完善新的医学技术,并对其进行伦理和法律的规范,防止滥用。     

精子捐赠与伦理

引起男性不育的一个重要原因是无精症、死精症.精子捐赠的出现为这些患者带来了福音,使其享受天伦之乐成为可能,但同时也带来了一系列伦理学、社会学上的问题,包括子代的知情权问题、近亲结婚问题、家庭内部矛盾问题等等.因此要准确认识、运用和完善新的医学技术,并对其进行伦理和法律的规范,防止滥用.     

Parataxic Distortions in the Initial Stages of Group Relationships

Abstract

This article highlights the significance food may have in group therapy with children and adolescents and its meanings for particular group members. It focuses on the interactions between the group members and leaders in response to food. Along with providing actual nutrition, food represents emotional and symbolic nurturing, and may trigger salient conflicts and issues with which group members are struggling. An essential role of the group leader is to manage conflicts that may be evoked by the provision of food. Examples are provided to illustrate themes and meanings related to food in group therapy with children and adolescents.     

Distortions and disconnections: disrupted brain connectivity in autism

The past few years have seen considerable interest in findings of abnormal brain connectivity in the autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We review recent work from neuroimaging and other sources, and argue that there is considerable convergent evidence suggesting that connectivity is disrupted in ASD. We point to evidence both of local over-connectivity and of long-distance under-connectivity, and describe some non-uniformities in this picture, most notably that disruptions appear more severe in later-developing cortical regions. We conclude by discussing a number of extant questions. Firstly, we consider whether aberrant connectivity should be seen as part of the primary pathogenesis of autism, or whether disrupted connectivity in ASD emerges over time. Secondly, we consider how the patterns of disrupted connectivity found in ASD might relate to those being found in a range of other disorders.     

Distortions in the memory of the pitch of speech

Corneille, Huart, Becquart, & Brédart (2004) found that people remember ambiguous race faces as closer to a race prototype than they actually are. In three studies, we examined whether this memory bias generalizes to voice memory. In Studies 1 and 2, participants listened to synthesized male and female speech samples (high, moderate, or low pitch) and were asked to identify a voice target when paired against distracters higher or lower in pitch. The results showed that pitch distortions occurred, with the pattern consistent with assimilation toward low and high ends of the pitch continuum. Study 3 replicated this result with a wider voice pitch range. The results parallel those of Corneille et al. (2004). The implications of this work are discussed.