Cue depreciation: when word fragment completion is undermined by prior exposure to lesser fragments

The ability to think of a previously studied item has often been shown to be impaired when, in one way or another, the extraitem context is changed from study to test. In a series of five experiments, such impairment is induced in a somewhat different way. A fragment (e.g. r-i--rop) of a just-studied word (raindrop) is shown to be less readily completed if it is presented bit by bit (r------p, r----r-p, r-i--r-p, r-i--rop) rather than all at once (Experiments 1, 3, 4, and 5). No such effect is found if the word has not been studied beforehand (Experiments 2, 3, 4, and 5). This pattern of results occurs even when fragments of studied and nonstudied words occur in the same test and under conditions in which subjects cannot tell whether a given fragment is of a studied or nonstudied word (Experiments 4 and 5). In addition, for words that have been studied beforehand, the impairment is shown to increase systematically with the number of steps involved in the presentation of the word fragment (Experiment 3) and also to persist when the time allowed for completion of the final version of the fragment is increased from 4 s to a full minute (Experiment 5).     

Pictorial rehearsal

Subjects were presented with a sequence of picture-word items. The pictures were line drawings of common objects, and the words were the names of the objects. Half of the items were followed quickly by the next item, and the other half by a 15-sec “rehearsal interval.” The subjects were told to use these intervals to rehearse the item just presented, either by saying the word over and over to themselves or by maintaining the picture before the mind’s eye. There followed a test in which each item from the study list was cued with a fragment of either the picture or the name. Consistent with previous findings, identification was more probable for fragments of items that had been followed by a rehearsal interval. In addition, this advantage was found to be greater when the type of cue matched the mode of rehearsal that the subject had been instructed to adopt; there was in fact little, if any, advantage of rehearsal when cue and mode of rehearsal mismatched. This pattern of results suggests functionally distinct pictorial and verbal modes of rehearsal that serve not only to maintain information in conscious mind but also to build up memory proper.     

Cultural differences in neural function associated with object processing

Behavioral research suggests that Westerners focus more on objects, whereas East Asians attend more to relationships and contexts. We evaluated the neural basis for these cultural differences in an event-related fMRI study. East Asian and American participants incidentally encoded pictures of (1) a target object alone, (2) a background scene with no discernable target object, and (3) a distinct target object against a meaningful background. Americans, relative to East Asians, activated more regions implicated in object processing, including bilateral middle temporal gyrus, left superior parietal/angular gyrus, and right superior temporal/supramarginal gyrus. In contrast to the cultural differences in object-processing areas, few differences emerged in background-processing regions. These results suggest that cultural experiences subtly direct neural activity, particularly for focal objects, at an early stage of scene encoding.     

词频和年级对FOK判断的影响

本实验以识记材料的词频高低和被试年级为自变量对被试元记忆监测的FOK(feeling of knowing)判断进行研究。实验采用Hart提出的RJR(回忆—FOK判断—标准测验 )的经典范式。结果表明 :被试的年级影响FOK判断等级和准确性 ,大学生的FOK判断等级和准确性均高于高一年级学生 ;识记材料词频影响FOK判断等级的高低 ,不影响FOK判断准确性 ,被试对高频词对的FOK判断等级高于对低频词对的FOK判断等级 ,但FOK判断准确性无明显差异。     

感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响：有中介的调节效应

以523名工读生为调查对象,考察工读生毒品使用特点,并在控制相关人口学变量后,探讨感觉寻求、压力性生活事件、结交不良同伴与工读生毒品使用的关系。结果显示：（1）工读生的毒品使用行为严重,34.2%的工读生曾使用过毒品,毒品使用呈现低龄化、以吸食新型毒品为主的趋势。（2）工读生的感觉寻求是毒品使用的风险因素。（3）压力性生活事件对感觉寻求与毒品使用之间的关系具有风险增强的调节效应。（4）这种调节效应以结交不良同伴为中介变量。因此,感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响是有中介的调节效应。研究结果对青少年毒品使用的预防和干预有重要的理论价值和参考价值。     

制度正当化理论述评

制度正当化是指个体将现存社会安排合法化的心理过程。制度正当化的理论基础包括谬误意识、公正世界信念理论和认知失调理论。制度正当化理论能够解释人们为什么以及怎样在认知和意识形态上维护和支持现状, 以及由此产生的一些积极和消极后果。制度正当化受到个体因素和情境因素的影响。未来研究应进一步明确制度正当化中“制度”的涵义, 加强制度正当化理论的应用性研究, 以便更好地解释社会转变如何产生。     

面孔识别特异性本质的ERP研究

本研究记录了16名被试在完成有整体结构变化和局部特征变化的面孔/房屋图片的一致性判断时的脑内时程变化,以期对面孔识别的特异性本质进行探讨。结果显示,N170波幅和潜伏期的刺激类型主效应显著;面孔/房屋所诱发的N170成分在波幅和潜伏期上均不存在加工方式上的显著差异。晚期成分(300～700ms)上也得到类似的结果。这表明:面孔与房屋(非面孔)的加工在早期和晚期成分上都有差异性,体现出面孔的加工在早期视觉刺激的加工和晚期识别的加工上都具有特异性;晚期识别加工的脑电结果不支持\"面孔识别是整体的,结构的,而非面孔客体的识别是局部的,基于特征的\"加工观点。     

这不是我想象中的工作！不合规任务对新员工工作投入的影响

本研究基于情绪的认知评价理论,探讨了不合规任务对新员工工作投入的动态影响机制。通过收集分析71名新员工连续5个工作日的追踪数据发现,不合规任务会诱发新员工的不愉快情绪,进而影响其工作投入,工作成长观能够有效缓冲这一负面影响。以上结论拓宽了不合规任务的影响后果,并为如何干预不合规任务给新员工带来的消极影响提供了启示。     

音乐之脑

回顾并总结了近年来对音乐认知神经基础的研究结果,包括人类感知乐曲的音高、理解音乐的结构和意义中的脑基础,音乐家和普通人在音乐认知上的脑功能差异,以及东西方听众在聆听本土和非本土音乐时的脑活动差异,并对国内利用脑功能成像技术和事件相关电位技术研究音乐认知的前景作出展望