小学低年级汉语儿童语言能力的发展轨迹:认知能力的预测作用

对177名小学一年级学生进行了长达一年的三次追踪,通过多层线性模型探索了儿童汉字识别、口语词汇和限时阅读理解能力的发展轨迹及复合语素意识、正字法意识和快速命名能力对三者的预测作用,结果发现：（1）三种语言能力均随时间呈现显著的线性增长趋势,汉字识别的个体差异逐渐缩小,口语词汇的个体差异相对稳定,而限时阅读理解成绩的差异逐渐扩大;（2）三种认知能力对汉字识别和限时阅读理解的初始成绩均有显著的正向预测作用,复合语素意识不仅能预测口语词汇的初始成绩,还能正向预测限时阅读理解的发展速度。     

语言理解中的动作知觉：基于具身认知的视角

具身认知理论是目前认知科学领域中最新的研究范式和取向, 它认为人的认知过程依赖于感知和动作系统, 强调身体在认知中发挥重要作用。具身语言理解则认为, 身体、动作和知觉系统在语言认知中也起着不可或缺的作用。文章在简要回顾具身语言理解的相关理论如索引假设、浸入式经历者框架、语言神经理论的基础上, 重点从语言理解的四个层面的实证研究, 即音位、单词、句子、语篇, 证实具身语言理解的观点。未来的研究应该着眼于用具身认知观点来解释更高级的抽象语言表征, 具身单词、句子、语篇的具体表征形式, 并利用具身语言认知的观点进行认知的本土化研究。     

汉语图画命名过程的年老化机制：非选择性抑制能力的影响

采用图画-词汇干扰任务考察和比较了青年人和老年人在汉语口语词汇产生中的干扰词频效应,以及非选择性抑制能力对两组人群干扰词频效应和图画命名潜伏期的影响。结果发现:无关干扰词的词频影响了青年人的图画命名过程,出现了干扰词频效应,这一效应更可能发生在反应排除阶段,且不受非选择性抑制能力的影响;相比而言,老年人中未出现干扰词频效应,这可能是由于老年人的音韵表征衰退导致其不能利用干扰词的词频信息,支持了口语产生认知年老化的传输不足假设。非选择性抑制能力影响了老年人的图画-词汇干扰任务中图画命名的潜伏期,非选择性抑制能力减弱,图画命名时间延长,表明一般性认知能力的衰退影响了语言产生过程。     

语言认知老化机制及其神经基础

老龄化个体出现的认知障碍在某种程度上是由于语言的认知老化所导致,因此,了解语言认知老化的具体表现、老化机制及其神经基础对于延缓语言认知老化、矫正老年痴呆有重要意义。首先基于理解和产生两个维度,分别从词汇、句子和文本三个层面分析了语言认知老化的表现,而后着重从工作记忆的角度分析了语言认知老化的认知机制,在此基础上,进一步从词汇加工、语义提取、句法分析三个方面分析了语言认知老化的神经基础,并指出半球不对称性减弱和脑区的弥散性激活是语言认知老化的主要神经表现。最后,围绕着语言认知老化的"发展进程、领域表现形式、干预矫正方法"三个必须解决的问题展开讨论,为该领域未来的发展做出理论上的铺垫。     

阅读障碍儿童的语言特异性认知缺陷

以41名五六年级的阅读障碍儿童和41名正常儿童为研究对象,系统考察了语言认知能力和一般认知能力与阅读成绩之问的关系.结果发现,障碍儿童在所有的语言认知测验中显著落后于正常儿童,较高比率的儿童存在能力缺陷.而在非语言特异性的一般认知能力测验中,未发现两组存在显著差异的证据,这意味着阅读障碍儿童的认知能力缺陷主要集中在语言认知领域.     

速度与认知成绩及年龄关系的研究

应用累加成绩－反应时曲线比较研究了青年组与老年组五项作业速度与成绩之间的关系,这五项作业是数字旋转,心算、符号数字、汉字数字和图形空间定位,结果表明：（１）老年组五项作业的累加成绩－－反应时曲线均较青年组上升缓慢,表明老年组需要较长的反应时,便可获得与青年人相当的累加是分;（２）老年组累加成绩－反应时曲线上升的快慢还与作业的性质及难度有一定。上述结果表明,在所研究作业的难度范围内,速度减慢是老年人     

汉语名词特异性损伤的个案研究

报道了一例汉语命名性失语症个案,他在口语命名图形与口语产生句子时均表现为对名词的作业能力差于动词,而且这种动-名词分离现象仅局限在语音输出通道上。初步推测,他在语音输出通道存在名词特异性损伤;动、名词信息的表征具有相对独立性;词汇与句子水平的损伤彼此对应。     

口语产生中词频效应、音节频率效应和语音促进效应的认知年老化

采用图画-词汇干扰实验范式,考察了汉语口语产生过程中词频与音节频率效应、语音促进效应的认知年老化现象及其认知机制。结果发现,老年组的图画命名时间长于青年组,且老年组的词频效应和音节频率效应高于青年组,而语音相关效应低于青年组。老年组中词频和音节频率存在两因素交互作用,青年组则没有,这表明随着年龄增加,老年人的心理词典中不仅语义水平和音韵水平之间的联结强度变弱,而且信息之间的作用模式发生了变化。研究结果为激活不充分假设或传输不足假设提供了证据。     

语言,语义,语言表征,心理理论--从语言获得建构理论谈心理理论和语言能力的关系

语言获得建构论认为儿童利用社会和一般的认知技能进行范畴化。通过主动的用法建构获得语言符号系统。通过大量研究分析推断：儿童心理理论的发展是儿童社会认知概念系统发展和语言表征发展的结果。通过概念系统发展和语言表征以及语言功能性发展的分析,有助于理解语言能力和心理理论的关系。     

不同语言理解能力中学生的主题推理特点

该研究使用移动视窗技术考察了初二和高一年级中的高低语言理解能力学生的主题推理加工特点。结果发现:(1)所有学生在无时间限制情况下,都能顺利完成语篇主题相似度判断,较低语言理解能力学生在阅读过程中不能进行有效主题推理;(2)较低语言理解能力被试在主题推理加工上的困难可能是由认知加工系统实时加工能力较差造成。     

Cognitive correlates of performance in advanced mathematics

Background. Much research has been devoted to understanding cognitive correlates of elementary mathematics performance, but little such research has been done for advanced mathematics (e.g., modern algebra, statistics, and mathematical logic). Aims. To promote mathematical knowledge among college students, it is necessary to understand what factors (including cognitive factors) are important for acquiring advanced mathematics. Samples. We recruited 80 undergraduates from four universities in Beijing. Methods. The current study investigated the associations between students’ performance on a test of advanced mathematics and a battery of 17 cognitive tasks on basic numerical processing, complex numerical processing, spatial abilities, language abilities, and general cognitive processing. Results. The results showed that spatial abilities were significantly correlated with performance in advanced mathematics after controlling for other factors. In addition, certain language abilities (i.e., comprehension of words and sentences) also made unique contributions. In contrast, basic numerical processing and computation were generally not correlated with performance in advanced mathematics. Conclusions. Results suggest that spatial abilities and language comprehension, but not basic numerical processing, may play an important role in advanced mathematics. These results are discussed in terms of their theoretical significance and practical implications.     

Revise and resubmit: How real-time parsing limitations influence grammar acquisition

We present the results from a three-day artificial language learning study on adults. The study examined whether sentence-parsing limitations, in particular, difficulties revising initial syntactic/semantic commitments during comprehension, shape learners’ ability to acquire a language. Findings show that both comprehension and production of morphology pertaining to sentence argument structure are delayed when this morphology consistently appears at the end, rather than at the beginning, of sentences in otherwise identical grammatical systems. This suggests that real-time processing constraints impact acquisition; morphological cues that tend to guide linguistic analyses are easier to learn than cues that revise these analyses. Parallel performance in production and comprehension indicates that parsing constraints affect grammatical acquisition, not just real-time commitments. Properties of the linguistic system (e.g., ordering of cues within a sentence) interact with the properties of the cognitive system (cognitive control and conflict-resolution abilities) and together affect language acquisition.     

自然情境下舌尖效应的认知年老化——日记研究

舌尖效应是一种话到嘴边却说不出来的单词提取失败现象(Tip-of-the-Tongue, TOT)。本研究通过TOT回溯问卷和日记记录方法对青年人和老年人进行了为期28天的追踪, 考察了自然情境下舌尖效应认知年老化的发生特点及机制。结果表明：(1)自然情境下TOT存在认知老化现象, 老年人TOT发生频率比青年人更高; (2) TOT发生时, 个体存在替代词和语义相关信息的提取, 且青年人比老年人产生了更强烈的兴奋感和疲惫感的元认知体验; (3) TOT发生后目标词几乎都能获得提取, 老年人TOT的解决时间比青年人长, 但其解决率无年龄差异。TOT的解决时间受目标词熟悉性、是否存在替代词和个体主观体验的认知和元认知因素影响。(4)对TOT认知状态和元认知状态的记录会影响后续发生TOT的状态, 且延长其解决时间, 表明被试付出了更多努力和时间解决TOT。TOT的认知状态和元认知状态的因素都对TOT的解决时间产生了影响。     

The relationship between Big-5 personality traits and cognitive ability in older adults – a review

It is well established that fundamental aspects of cognition such as memory and speed of processing tend to decline with age; however, there is substantial between-individual variability in levels of cognitive performance in older adulthood and in rates of change in cognitive abilities over time. Recent years have seen an increasing number of studies concerned with examining personality characteristics as possible predictors of some of this variability in cognitive aging. The purpose of this article is to review the literature, and identify patterns of findings regarding the relationships between personality (focusing on the Big-5) and cognitive ability across nonclinical populations of older adults. Possible mechanisms underlying associations of personality characteristics with cognition are reviewed, and assessed in the context of the current literature. Some relatively consistent relationships are identified, including positive associations between openness and cognitive ability, and associations of conscientiousness with slower rates of cognitive decline. However, the relationships between several personality traits and cognitive abilities in older adults remain unclear. We suggest some approaches to research design and analysis that may help increase our understanding of how personality differences may contribute to cognitive aging.     

Tracking Reading: Dual Task Costs of Oral Reading for Young Versus Older Adults

A digital pursuit rotor was used to monitor oral reading costs by time-locking tracking performance to the auditory wave form produced as young and older adults were reading out short paragraphs. Multilevel modeling was used to determine how paragraph-level predictors of length, grammatical complexity, and readability and person-level predictors such as speaker age or working memory capacity predicted reading and tracking performance. In addition, sentence-by-sentence variation in tracking performance was examined during the production of individual sentences and during the pauses before upcoming sentences. The results suggest that dual tasking has a greater impact on older adults’ reading comprehension and tracking performance. At the level of individual sentences, young and older adults adopt different strategies to deal with grammatically complex and propositionally dense sentences.     

年老化与文本理解

年老化与文本理解的研究表明,老年人在表层形式和文本基础两个低水平表征上的理解和记忆能力下降,而在情境模型的建构和提取、更新等加工过程中都没有发现由于年老化引起的能力下降。在介绍这些研究的基础上,从情境模型与另两个低水平加工的不同特点和老年人自身的特殊性两个方面分析了老年人在不同层次表征水平加工能力差异的原因。对情境模型水平加工能力保持的潜在机制及相关的影响因素,以及如何弥补在低水平加工中认知能力因年龄而产生的下降等问题还需要进行探讨     

The role of regional heterogeneity in age-related differences in functional hemispheric asymmetry: an fMRI study

Neuroimaging literature has documented age-related hemispheric asymmetry reduction in frontal regions during task performances. As most studies employed working memory paradigms, it is therefore less clear if this pattern of neural reorganization is constrained by working memory processes or it would also emerge in other cognitive domains which are predominantly lateralized. Using blocked functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study used a homophone judgment task and a line judgment task to investigate age-related differences in functional hemispheric asymmetry in language and visuospatial processing respectively. Young and older adults achieved similar task accuracy although older adults required a significantly longer time. Age-related functional hemispheric asymmetry reduction was found only in dorsal inferior frontal gyrus and was associated with better performance when the homophone condition was contrasted against fixation, and not line condition. Our data thus highlights the importance of considering regional heterogeneity of aging effects together with general age-related cognitive processes.     

加工速度和工作记忆在认知年老化过程中的作用

研究加工速度和工作记忆在认知能力年老化过程中的作用。被试为20-90岁的健康成人1350名,完成加工速度、工作记忆及一组认知能力测验,应用分层回归分析方法考查在年老化过程中加工速度和工作记忆对多项认知变量的作用量。结果表明,在年老化过程中,加工速度和工作记忆对认知变量的作用量分别约为87% 和76%;二者的综合作用量约为94%。说明加工速度和工作记忆在认知能力年老化过程中起决定作用     

Beliefs about age-related changes in physical functioning across the adult life span and their relationship with physical activity levels of older adults

Physical activity declines across the adult life span despite the well-established links between physical activity and health-related, psychological, cognitive, and social benefits. We contrasted the beliefs young and older adults hold about how aging affects both physical abilities and physical activity and determined whether older adults’ beliefs about physical aging relate to their engagement in physical activity. Using visual rating scales, 56 young and 49 community-dwelling older adults indicated the extent to which a typical woman or typical man aged 20–90 possesses six different physical abilities and engages in three different types of physical activity. Stereotypes of physical aging were ability- and activity-specific, and older adults endorsed more positive views than their younger peers. Stereotypical beliefs predicted older adults’ engagement in moderate-intensity activity. This study offers intriguing avenues for future research and suggests that better understanding physical aging stereotypes may contribute toward designing interventions that promote lifelong physical activity.