Concurrency benefits in the attentional blink: Attentional flexibility and shifts of decision criteria

Fundamental limitations in performing multiple tasks concurrently are well illustrated by the attentional blink (AB) deficit, which refers to the difficulty in reporting a second target (T2) when it is presented shortly after a first target (T1). Surprisingly, recent studies have shown that the AB, which is often thought of as a manifestation of capacity limitations in central processing, can be reduced when the AB task is performed simultaneously with concurrent distracting activities. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether such concurrency benefits would also be observed when the AB task was performed concurrently with a central demanding timing task. The AB was reduced under concurrent-task conditions, as compared with single-AB-task conditions, even though T1 performance was unaffected by the concurrent task. Moreover, shifts in decision criteria were found to be associated with the concurrency benefit effect.     

Influences of head and torso movement before and during affordance perception

Previous research has shown that body sway (both standing and seated) is related to the accuracy of affordance judgments. The authors investigated the influence of seated head and torso movement on the perception of a novel affordance for wheelchair locomotion. Healthy adults without prior wheelchair experience judged the lowest lintel under which they could roll in the wheelchair. Prior to judgments, participants were given brief (≈ 2 min) practice at self-controlled wheelchair locomotion. During practice, the participant's head either was or was not restrained within the wheelchair. During the subsequent judgment session, the participant's head was or was not restrained. The accuracy of affordance judgments was influenced by restraint during the practice session and also by restraint during the judgment session. The authors collected data on head movement during the judgment session (when participants were not restrained). These data revealed that movement during judgment sessions was influenced by whether or not participants were restrained during the practice session. Overall, the results reveal that the availability of head movements (i.e., being unrestrained) and the nature of head movements (during unrestrained judgment sessions) were causally related to the accuracy of affordance judgments.     

Mood and positive testing in social interaction

Why, how and when does mood influence positive testing, that is, the selection of matching questions, when people actively search for information about others they meet? In four experiments, we demonstrated that happy mood increased positive testing compared to sad mood. Experiment 1 showed that happy participants were more strongly motivated to get along and smooth the interaction to come than sad ones. In addition, evidence was provided by a mediation analysis that happy mood increased the preference for positive testing because of such an improved motivation to get along. Furthermore, Experiment 2 showed that happy participants' preference for positive testing vanished when cognitive resources were limited. The preference for positive testing appeared under happy mood only when the context made salient the goal to get along (Experiments 3 and 4). Together, these results suggest that positive testing in a social‐hypothesis testing paradigm may have social values. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Judging the 'passability' of dynamic gaps in a virtual rugby environment

Affordances have recently been proposed as a guiding principle in perception–action research in sport (Fajen, Riley, & Turvey, 2009). In the present study, perception of the ’passability’ affordance of a gap between two approaching defenders in rugby is explored. A simplified rugby gap closure scenario was created using immersive, interactive virtual reality technology where 14 novice participants (attacker) judged the passability of the gap between two virtual defenders via a perceptual judgment (button press) task. The scenario was modeled according to tau theory (Lee, 1976) and a psychophysical function was fitted to the response data. Results revealed that a tau-based informational quantity could account for 82% of the variance in the data. Findings suggest that the passability affordance in this case, is defined by this variable and participants were able to use it in order to inform prospective judgments as to passability. These findings contribute to our understanding of affordances and how they may be defined in this particular sporting scenario; however, some limitations regarding methodology, such as decoupling perception and action are also acknowledged.     

A Functional Analysis of 2004 Ukrainian Presidential Debates

Political leaders’ debates are an important and highly visible instances of public argumentation. As such, they merit scholarly attention. This essay applies the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to analyze televised presidential debates from the Ukraine in 2004. Overall, this analysis revealed that acclaims were the most common function, followed by attacks and then defenses. Policy was addressed more often than character in these debates, as expected. The incumbent candidate acclaimed significantly more and attacked less than the challenger. The incumbents used past deeds significantly more often to acclaim – and less to attack – than the challengers. Finally, general goals and ideals were used more as the basis for acclaims than attacks in these debates. Implications of these results are discussed.     

经济活动中的道德理性

经济活动不仅是人们的物质生产活动,也是人们“理性化”的认知活动和实践活动。它既体现了人类主体对技术、工具手段的认知理性,又体现了人类主体“合理性”、“合目的性”的价值理性。而道德价值理性是一切合理有序的经济活动的价值标矢和理性基础。     

孝的多维心理结构：取向之异与古今之变

孝的内在结构具有多面性, 但以往孝的量表存在信效度不高、掺入研究者主观意图、遗漏重要因素等弊端。研究通过经典文本改编和被试自由生成而编制条目, 通过因素分析与效标分析等方法考察孝的结构( 总样本量 = 1725), 发现孝包含尊敬安乐父母、服从父母、和颜对待父母、守身不辱父母、陪伴父母、扬名以显父母、思慕父母、不干涉父母、劝谏父母, 九因素结构具有良好的信效度。不同因素与效标变量(家庭自我概念、家庭弹性、父母教养方式、亲子边界不当、自立人格、服从倾向)具有不同的关联模式。这些发现反映出儒学论孝的敬慕之别、敬顺之变。此外讨论了不同因素的古今变迁。     

决策中损益值大小效应的发生条件及机制再探——一种齐当别视角及兼对视角本身的一些探

通过两个研究,损益值大小效应在1元～1亿元的广阔范围内,以及在只采用选择反应模式的条件下得到了进一步探讨,其机制也在齐当别模型的全新视角下得到了讨论;此外,齐当别模型本身以及模型的经典判断任务也得到了探讨.结果发现:基于选择反应模式时,损益值大小效应在获得情景中稳定存在,并只存在一个风险倾向的拐点,而它在损失情景中则不存在;损益值大小效应的机制能够被齐当别模型很好地解释;齐当别模型的经典判断任务对模型预测效能的检验力不足,但其与新设计的维度内判断任务联合后却有很大改善;齐当别模型对损失情景中的均含0结果值的决策任务的解释力还有待进一步探讨.     

幽门螺杆菌根除失败原因及补救策略分析

幽门螺杆菌（Hp）与胃炎、消化性溃疡、胃黏膜相关淋巴组织淋巴瘤及胃癌关系密切。随着根除Hp治疗在临床的普遍开展,Hp根除率逐渐下降,其主要原因是日益突出的抗生素耐药及患者对药物依从性差。对根除治疗失败者进行补救治疗已成为Hp治疗研究领域的新热点。由于各地的Hp耐药率及感染者个体情况存在很大差异,目前尚未形成统一规范的补救策略,遵循个体化的补救策略已逐渐被大家所接受。     

Serum beta-amyloid correlates with neuropsychological impairment

AIMS: Evidence suggests a relationship between peripheral Abeta and AD. We hypothesized that higher levels of serum Abeta(1-42) would be associated with memory impairment, thought to occur early in the disease, and rises in serum Abeta(1-40), which occur later, would be associated with impairment in non-memory measures. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, we examined the relationship of serum Abeta(1-40), Abeta(1-42), and the ratio of Abeta(1-42/1-40) to neuropsychological measures in 40 cognitively normal controls, 13 MCI subjects, and 25 AD patients. RESULTS: Serum Abeta(1-42) and the ratio of Abeta(1-42/1-40) were significantly higher in the MCI group compared to the controls. A significant relationship in the hypothesized direction (poorer scores associated with higher Abeta(1-40) serum levels) was found between Abeta(1-40) and measures of executive functions across the entire cohort of individuals tested and with measures of language and processing speed in the AD group. Regression analysis found that neuropsychological measures accounted for 26% of the variance in serum Abeta(1-40,) in the MCI/AD but not the controls. Furthermore that language and executive measures were significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide preliminary data to partially support our hypotheses and suggest that changes in serum Abeta levels may be attributed to pathological changes within the brain.