Working memory load but not multitasking eliminates the prepared reflex: further evidence from the adapted flanker paradigm

The prepared reflex (PR) metaphor (Exner, 1879; Woodworth, 1938) suggests that stimulus-response (S-R) instructions held in working memory (WM) can lead to autonomous response activation without any practice. Cohen-Kdoshay and Meiran (2007) showed flanker compatibility effects immediately following the instructions (First Trials Flanker Compatibility Effect, FTFCE) and also showed that FTFCE was eliminated when participants had to hold an additional novel task rule in mind. They attributed the elimination of the FTFCE to WM load, but did not rule out multitasking and associated increased control demands as a possible alternative explanation. In the present experiment, the authors compared a no-load condition, a load condition involving a secondary task that was changed in every block (thus requiring WM) and a multi-tasking condition involving a secondary that remained the same throughout the experiment. The results show FTFCE without load and in the multi-tasking condition but no FTFCE in the WM load condition, establishing the critical involvement of WM storage capacity in the FTFCE.     

L-eye to me: the combined role of Need for Cognition and facial trustworthiness in mimetic desires

Recent studies showed that stimuli are evaluated more favourably when they are perceived to capture others' attention, an effect coined "mimetic desire". The aim of the present research was to examine the combined role of Need for Cognition and target's facial trustworthiness in this effect. Participants saw movie excerpts of trustworthy and untrustworthy 3D faces (Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008) turning their attention towards one art painting and away from another art painting. Results showed that looked-at paintings were preferred to looked-away paintings when associated with a trustworthy face. However, the reversed finding was observed for paintings associated with untrustworthy faces. The latter interaction was in turn moderated by participant's Need for Cognition, with a larger reversal effect for participants scoring lower on the NFC scale. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Dissociable neural systems for analogy and metaphor: implications for the neuroscience of creativity

Two recent reviews of the neuroimaging literature on creativity have pointed to inconsistent findings across studies, calling into question the usefulness of the theoretical constructs motivating the search for its neural bases. However, it is argued that consistent patterns of neural activation do emerge when the cognitive process and the neuroimaging method are kept uniform across studies. To demonstrate this empirically, the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method was used to conduct quantitative meta-analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments of analogy and metaphor - two processes related to creativity and included in the recent reviews. The results demonstrated that analogy and metaphor reliably activate consistent but dissociable brain regions across fMRI studies. The implications of the findings for cognitive theories of analogy and metaphor are discussed. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that to the extent that creativity has heterogeneous sources, its neural instantiation will vary as a function of the underlying cognitive processes.     

The motor side of emotions: investigating the relationship between hemispheres, motor reactions and emotional stimuli

The aim of the present study was to analyze if the left hemisphere preferentially controls flexion responses toward positive stimuli, while the right hemisphere is specialized toward extensor responses to negative pictures. To this end, right-handed subjects had to pull or push a joystick subsequent to seeing a positive or a negative stimulus in their left or right hemifield. Flexion responses were faster for positive stimuli, while negative stimuli were associated with faster extensions responses. Overall, performance was fastest when emotional stimuli were presented to the left visual hemifield. This right hemisphere superiority was especially clear for negative stimuli, while reaction times toward positive pictures showed no hemispheric difference. We did not find any interaction between hemifield and response type. Neither was there a triple interaction between valence, hemifield and response type. We suppose that response dichotomies in humans are not as tightly linked to a hemisphere- and valence-bound reaction type as previously assumed.     

Distress after a single violent crime: how shame-proneness and event-related shame work together as risk factors for post-victimization symptoms

To increase understanding of post-victimization symptom development, the present study investigated the role of shame- and guilt-proneness and event-related shame and guilt as potential risk factors. 35 individuals (M age = 31.7 yr.; 48.5% women), recently victimized by a single event of severe violent crime, were assessed regarding shame- and guilt-proneness, event-related shame and guilt, and post-victimization symptoms. The mediating role of event-related shame was investigated with structural equation modeling (SEM), using bootstrapping. The guilt measures were unrelated to each other and to post-victimization symptoms. The shame measures were highly intercorrelated and were both positively correlated to more severe post-victimization symptom levels. Event-related shame as mediator between shame-proneness and post-victimization symptoms was demonstrated by prevalent significant indirect effects. Both shame measures are potent risk factors for distress after victimization, whereby part of the effect of shame-proneness on post-victimization symptoms is explained by event-related shame.     

源远流长的公教文学

在浩如繁星的文学流派中,公教文学以其独具魅力在历史上占有特殊的地位。虽然,在人们的印象中,它传承的是希伯来文化和希腊文化的人文与道德观,成为西方文化的重要组成部分,但在其传播过程中,它却对世界人类文明的发展进程起到了举足轻重的作用。     

耶稣基督的逆向思维

正思维——在表象、概念的基础上,进行分析、推理、判断,以爱综合、归纳等一系列认识活动的过程。这是给思维下的定义。思维是人类独有的精神活动、意识动态。因为,唯人才有灵魂,灵魂是思维的根源,而思维则是灵魂的属性与功能。其他的生命体比如:飞禽走兽、牛马猪羊,即便有大脑也只能"跟着感觉走"。盖因大脑只不过是灵魂借以思维的工具而已。其本身并不能产生思维。不然,猪羊闻讯早遛之大吉,逃之夭夭了,还轮到你屠夫"磨刀霍霍     

知行统一 砥砺前行

党的十八大以来,以习近平同志为核心的党中央提出一系列关于宗教工作的新理念新举措,回答了新时代怎样认识宗教、怎样处理宗教问题、怎样做好党的宗教工作等重大理论和实践问题。这一系列新理念新举措可以概括为“九个必须”。