The effect of emotional context on cognitive inhibition and attentional processing in dissociative identity disorder

In light of previous research, the current study tested the hypothesis that dissociative identity disorder (DID) would be characterised by effective cognitive inhibitory functioning when tested in a neutral context, but weakened inhibition when tested in an emotionally negative context. Using a negative priming task (i.e. the flanker task) to assess inhibitory ability 11 DID, 11 depressed, and 11 general population participants were tested in the two differing experimental contexts. The contexts were manipulated by instructions and word stimuli, and following the completion of this task participants completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Schizotypal Personality Scale. DID participants displayed a greater degree of self-reported anxiety in the negative context and as expected displayed a reduction in inhibition in this context but not in the neutral context. The degree of negative priming for the depressed and general population samples remained stable across contexts as did their anxiety levels. The DID sample displayed slower response times to negative compared to neutral words but this attentional bias was not evident for the two comparison groups. The relationship between increased arousal, inhibitory functioning, dissociation and information processing in DID is discussed.     

Evidence for episodic retrieval of inadequate prime responses in auditory negative priming

Four experiments are reported in which the mechanisms underlying auditory negative priming were investigated. In Experiments 1A and 1B, preprime-prime intervals and prime-probe intervals were manipulated. The ratio between the 2 intervals determined the size of the negative priming effect. Results are compatible with the episodic retrieval account, according to which the retrieval of inappropriate response information associated with the previous distractor slows down responding when that stimulus becomes the target. Experiment 2 tested a variant of this account, according to which the retrieval of the prime response rather than the retrieval of nonresponse information interferes with responding. Consistent with this variant, participants erroneously responded with the prime response more frequently in the ignored repetition condition than in the control condition. Experiment 3 replicated this finding and generalized it to the visual modality. The authors conclude that the retrieval of the inappropriate prime response is a determinant of the negative priming phenomenon.     

负启动效应的抗抑制理论及其新进展

负启动效应及其机制是近年来认知心理学研究的重点课题。该文从情景提取说、短暂辨别说以及随意刺激—反应联结的自动化提取理论三个方面论述了负启动效应的抗抑制理论及其新发展,以期为进一步探讨负启动效应的形成机制提供帮助。     

Dissociable interference-control processes in perception and memory

Control over interference is a pervasive feature of cognitive life. Central to research on interference control has been the identification of its underlying mechanisms. Investigations have focused on processes that filter out distracting perceptual information, leading to negative priming, and processes that discard intruding memories that cause proactive interference. Theories differ regarding whether or not a single process during episodic retrieval underlies both negative priming and the resolution of proactive interference. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we combined both phenomena into a single paradigm and found that occipital cortex shows activation uniquely related to negative priming, whereas activation increases in left lateral prefrontal cortex are uniquely associated with proactive interference. This pattern of results contradicts theories that rely on a single process to account for both phenomena. However, results also showed common recruitment of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal regions and therefore suggest that some control processes are shared.     

Cognitive inhibition and interference in dissociative identity disorder: the effects of anxiety on specific executive functions

Using an experimentally based, computer-presented task, this study assessed cognitive inhibition and interference in individuals from the dissociative identity disorder (DID; n=12), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n=12) and non-clinical (n=12) populations. Participants were assessed in a neutral and emotionally negative (anxiety provoking) context, manipulated by experimental instructions and word stimuli. The DID sample displayed effective cognitive inhibition in the neutral but not the anxious context. The GAD sample displayed the opposite findings. However, the interaction between group and context failed to reach significance. There was no indication of an attentional bias to non-schema specific negative words in any sample. Results are discussed in terms of the potential benefit of weakened cognitive inhibition during anxious arousal in dissociative individuals.     

焦虑情绪对图像信息意识提取和无意识提取影响的实验研究

采用加工分离程序,以不同性价图片为实验材料,考察了特质焦虑、启动焦虑和非焦虑三种焦虑类型对图片信息意识提取和无意识提取的影响,结果表明：（1）不同焦虑类型对图像信息的意识提取和无意识提取均有影响,其中特质焦虑对图像的无意识提取更敏感,非焦虑状态对意识提取更敏感;（2）特质焦虑明显促进了负性图片的意识和无意识提取且干扰了正性图片的提取,启动焦虑促进了对负性图片的意识提取。     

Contextual modulation of prime response retrieval processes: Evidence from auditory negative priming

Contextual similarity between learning and test phase has been shown to be beneficial for memory retrieval. Negative priming is known to be caused by multiple processes; one of which is episodic retrieval. Therefore, the contextual similarity of prime and probe presentations should influence the size of the negative priming effect. This has been shown for the visual modality. In Experiment 1, an auditory four-alternative forced choice reaction time task was used to test the influence of prime-probe contextual similarity on negative priming and the processes underlying the modulation by context. The negative priming effect was larger when the auditory context was repeated than when it was changed from prime to probe. The modulation by context was exclusively caused by an increase in prime response retrieval errors in ignored repetition trials with context repetition, whereas repeating only the context but not the prime distractor did not lead to an increase in prime response retrieval. This exact pattern of results was replicated in Experiment 2. The findings suggest that contextual information is integrated with prime distractor and response information. Retrieval of the previous episode, including prime distractor, prime response, and context (event file), can be triggered when the former prime distractor is repeated, whereas a context cue alone does not retrieve the event file. This suggests an event file structure that is more complicated than its usually assumed binary structure.     

A simple neural network model of the hippocampus suggesting its pathfinding role in episodic memory retrieval

The goal of this work is to extend the theoretical understanding of the relationship between hippocampal spatial and memory functions to the level of neurophysiological mechanisms underlying spatial navigation and episodic memory retrieval. The proposed unifying theory describes both phenomena within a unique framework, as based on one and the same pathfinding function of the hippocampus. We propose a mechanism of reconstruction of the context of experience involving a search for a nearly shortest path in the space of remembered contexts. To analyze this concept in detail, we define a simple connectionist model consistent with available rodent and human neurophysiological data. Numerical study of the model begins with the spatial domain as a simple analogy for more complex phenomena. It is demonstrated how a nearly shortest path is quickly found in a familiar environment. We prove numerically that associative learning during sharp waves can account for the necessary properties of hippocampal place cells. Computational study of the model is extended to other cognitive paradigms, with the main focus on episodic memory retrieval. We show that the ability to find a correct path may be vital for successful retrieval. The model robustly exhibits the pathfinding capacity within a wide range of several factors, including its memory load (up to 30,000 abstract contexts), the number of episodes that become associated with potential target contexts, and the level of dynamical noise. We offer several testable critical predictions in both spatial and memory domains to validate the theory. Our results suggest that (1) the pathfinding function of the hippocampus, in addition to its associative and memory indexing functions, may be vital for retrieval of certain episodic memories, and (2) the hippocampal spatial navigation function could be a precursor of its memory function.     

Cross-language negative priming remains intact,while positive priming disappears: evidence for two sources of selective inhibition

In the current experiments, within- and between-language primed lexical decision tasks with Twi-English bilinguals were used. The aim was to explore the priming effects produced by attended and ignored words, in an effort to draw theoretical and empirical parallels and differences between the mechanisms of excitation and inhibition and to isolate the different circumstances in which these mechanisms operate in bilingual language processing. In the within-language (Twi) experiment, facilitatory (positive) priming resulted when a prime word and subsequent probe target word were identical, whereas delayed decisions to probe targets (negative priming) ensued when the ignored prime word was conceptually identical to the subsequent probe target word. In contrast, while the between-language (Twi-English) experiments replicated the ignored repetition negative priming effect, no evidence of positive priming was observed. These between-language findings undermine episodic retrieval models of selective attention that discount inhibitory processes in negative priming paradigms. Instead, our findings substantiate inhibition-based accounts by showing that there are two sources of inhibition operating at the local word and global language levels of abstraction. The findings also support bilingual language representations in which the words of the two languages are integrated.     

ERP correlates of auditory negative priming

Negative priming refers to slowed down reactions when the distractor on one trial becomes the target on the next. Following two popular accounts, the effect might be due either to inhibitory processes associated with the frontal cortex, or to an ambiguity in the retrieval of episodic information. We used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to identify the processing stage primarily associated with negative priming. In an auditory categorization task, reactions in negative priming trials were compared to reactions in a standard control (unrelated primes and probes) and a repetition control (attended prime=ignored probe) condition. Reactions were slower for negative priming than for standard control (Delta32 ms) and repetition control trials (Delta64 ms). The corresponding ERP effect was reflected in an attenuation of a sustained parietal positivity extending from 300 to 600 ms. Because corresponding ERP components were found to be sensitive to stimulus recognition and familiarity, the results may be interpreted to support an episodic retrieval account of negative priming.     

Negate priming and multiple repetition: a reply to Grison and Strayer (2001)

Strayer and colleagues (Grison & Strayer, 2001; Malley & Strayer 1995; Strayer & Grison, 1999) have reported experiments in which negative priming by ignored stimuli occurred onlyfor stimuli that were repeatedly sampledfrom small sets. These results were argued to be inconsistent with episodic/mismatch accounts of negative priming. We show here that a dependence of negative priming on multiple repetition is wholly consistent with such theories. Furthermore, we argue that the inhibitory theory proposed by Strayer and colleagues cannot account for major findings regarding negative priming and that anomalies in the data reported by Grison and Strayer are more parsimoniously explained by episodic/mismatch accounts.     

学习方式的变革:提取促进学习

提取练习效应是指在学习与最终测验之间,等长时间的提取练习与重复学习相比,前者更能促进长时记忆的保持,也称为测试效应。大量研究表明提取测试是一种高效的学习策略,师生却对此认识不足,认为测试只是检测学习效果的评估工具,并不能改变或促进学习。本文主要从提取练习促进学习的认知神经加工机制、提取练习在实践应用中的特点、提高提取练习效应的方法及其在教学实践中的局限四方面梳理了相关研究,为提取练习广泛应用于教学实践提供支持,同时也为师生正确高效利用这一策略提供了参考,使学生获得更高效和持久的学习。     

Influence of prime-probe stimulus onset asynchrony and prime precuing manipulations on semantic priming effects with words in a lexical-decision task

The present research examines semantic priming from attended and unattended parafoveal words. Participants made a lexical decision in response to a single central target. The target was preceded by two parafoveal prime words, with one of them (the attended prime) being precued by a peripheral cue. The main variables manipulated across experiments were cue informativeness (valid vs. neutral cues) and stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between prime and probe (200, 300, 600, or 1,000 ms). The results showed (a) reliable semantic priming from both attended and ignored prime words and (b) that the ignored priming effects were either negative or positive, depending on both the prime-probe SOA and cue informativeness. The present findings are discussed in relation to inhibitory versus episodic retrieval models of negative priming.     

Negative priming and multiple repetition: A reply to Grison and Strayer (2001)

Strayer and colleagues (Grison & Strayer, 2001; Malley & Strayer, 1995; Strayer & Grison, 1999) have reported experiments in which negative priming by ignored stimuli occurred only for stimuli that were repeatedly sampled from small sets. These results were argued to be inconsistent with episodic/mismatch accounts of negative priming. We show here that a dependence of negative priming on multiple repetition is wholly consistent with such theories. Furthermore, we argue that the inhibitory theory proposed by Strayer and colleagues cannot account for major findings regarding negative priming and that anomalies in the data reported by Grison and Strayer are more parsimoniously explained by episodic/mismatch accounts.     

Negative priming 1985 to 2015: a measure of inhibition,the emergence of alternative accounts,and the multiple process challenge

In this article, three generations of authors describe the background to the original article; the subsequent emergence of vigorous debates concerning what negative priming actually reflects, where radically different accounts based on memory retrieval were proposed; and a re-casting of the conceptual issues underlying studies of negative priming. What started as a simple observation (slowed reaction times) and mechanism (distractor inhibition) appears now to be best explained by a multiple mechanism account involving both episodic binding and retrieval processes as well as an inhibitory process. Emerging evidence from converging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and especially electroencephalography (EEG), is beginning to identify these different processes. The past 30 years of negative priming experiments has revealed the dynamic and complex cognitive processes that mediate what appear to be apparently simple behavioural effects.     

Negative priming with masked distractor-only prime trials: awareness moderates negative priming

The literature yields inconsistent evidence for negative priming (NP) following masked distractor-only prime trials. We contrast two different hypotheses on the inconsistent findings: one - which is most compatible with the temporal discrimination theory - that relates the sign of priming effects to the absence vs. presence of prime awareness and one -which is most compatible with the inhibition and episodic retrieval accounts - that relates the sign of priming effects to the prime event being categorized as a to-be-attended vs. to-be-ignored event. In two experiments, it turned out that participants' awareness of the masked stimuli caused the different results (with participants being not aware of the primes showing NP), whereas the factor prime color = probe target color vs. prime color = probe distractor color (i.e., the prime contains the to-be-attended vs. the to-be-ignored signal) did not moderate NP. These findings are discussed with regard to theories of negative priming and the debate on conscious vs. unconscious perception.     

Negative priming for spatial location?

The term negative priming has been used to describe the deleterious consequences for performance when the current target shares properties with an ignored distractor from the previous trial. Location-based negative priming was first reported by Tipper, Brehaut, and Driver (1990) who used a prime-probe procedure wherein the task was to localize targets defined by their identity (shape). Design imbalances in this seminal study, and others, are illustrated and it is indicated how these might have contaminated the reported effects. The findings, from three experiments using an unbiased design, suggest that negative priming in the spatial location procedure may be more closely related to inhibition of return (IOR), or to the automatic attraction of attention by new objects, than to the concepts of distractor inhibition, episodic retrieval, and feature mismatch, which have traditionally been used to explain negative priming for spatial location.     

Stimulus-feature specific negative priming

We report the results of two experiments that showed that the time needed to respond to a feature of a stimulus increases when that particular feature of that particular stimulus previously had to be ignored. The data of Experiment 2 argue against the hypothesis that the observed stimulus-feature specific negative priming was due to a response conflict instigated by automatic episodic retrieval of prime responses. Experiment 2 also showed that the effects were not caused by difficulties in switching between prime and probe tasks and provided additional evidence for the fact that priming effects were stimulus-feature specific. The present results suggest that the selective inhibition or episodic encoding mechanisms that are assumed to underlie negative priming can operate in a more specific and powerful manner than has been previously assumed.     

Distinct episodic contexts enhance retrieval-based learning

Spaced retrieval practice results in better long-term retention than massed retrieval practice. The episodic context account of this effect suggests that updated representations of the more distinct temporal contexts associated with spaced retrievals facilitate later recall. We examined whether environmental context, in addition to temporal context, may also play a role in retrieval-based learning. Participants studied and then attempted to retrieve the English translations of Swahili words during four acquisition blocks of trials. They were then randomly assigned to practice retrieving items three more times in one of the following conditions: massed practice with the same environmental context scene; massed practice with different environmental context scenes; spaced practice with the same environmental context scene; or spaced practice with different environmental context scenes. After a one-week delay, measures of recall, forgetting, and the joint probabilities between study session recall and final recall performance all indicated enhanced retention for both the spaced and different environmental context conditions. Indeed, after retrieving items in the study session, forgetting them during final recall was 371% more likely in the same context than in the different context conditions. These findings redefine and refine previous accounts of the episodic context model of retrieval-based learning.     

提取练习效应的产生机制:编码、提取的整合演变

提取练习效应指相比同等时间的重复学习,对所学材料进行提取练习(即使无反馈)可使被试在之后的回忆测验中表现更好。早期研究从编码或提取单维度地对提取练习效应进行了描述性解释,新近以来,研究者整合了编码和提取在提取练习效应中的作用,从记忆加工全过程的角度考察了提取练习效应的产生机制,并得到诸多研究证据的支持。论文梳理了提取练习效应产生机制的各类假说,并重点分析比较了精细提取假说和情景背景假说,指出后者在解释提取练习效应上的优势。未来研究可结合认知神经科学的研究技术为情景背景假说提供更直接的证据,有关提取练习对于短期和长期记忆促进效果的争议也有待进一步解释厘清,同时如何在揭示其原理的基础上将其更高效地加以应用亦有待实践探索。