Visual attention and manual response selection: Distinct mechanisms operating on the same codes

In four experiments, participants made a speeded manual response to a tone and concurrently selected a cued visual target from a masked display for later unspeeded report. In contrast toaprevious study of H.Pashler (1991), systematic interactions between the two tasks were obtained. First, accuracy in both tasks decreased with decreasing stimulus (tone-display)-onset asynchrony (SOA)— presumably due to a conflict between stimulus and response coding. Second, spatial correspondence between manual response and visual target produced better performance in the visual task and, with short SOAs, in the tone task, too— presumably due to the overlap of the spatial codes used by stimulus- and response-selection processes. Third, manual responding slowed down with increasing SOA — reflecting either a functional bottleneck or strategic queuing of target selection and response selection. Results suggest that visual stimulus selection and manual response selection are distinct mechanisms that operate on common representations.     

Switching between global and local scopes of attention is resisted near the hands

Recently, several changes in perception, attention, and visual working memory have been reported when stimuli are near to compared to far from the hands, suggesting that such stimuli receive enhanced scrutiny. A mechanism that inhibits the disengagement of attention from objects near the hands, thus forcing a more thorough inspection, has been proposed to underlie such effects. Up until now, this possibility has been tested only in a limited number of tasks. In the present study we examined whether changes in one's global or local attentional scope are similarly affected by hand proximity. Participants analysed stimuli according to either their global shape or the shape of their constituent local elements while holding their hands near to or far from the stimuli. Switches between global and local processing were markedly slower near the hands, reflecting an attentional mechanism that compels an observer to more fully evaluate objects near their hands by inhibiting changes in attentional scope. Such a mechanism may be responsible for some of the changes observed in other tasks, and reveals the special status conferred to objects near the hands.     

A glimpse is not a glimpse: Differential processing of flashed scene previews leads to differential target search benefits

The question of whether words can be identified without spatial attention has been a topic of considerable interest over the last five and a half decades, but the literature has yielded mixed conclusions. The present experiments manipulated the proportion of valid trials (the proportion of trials in which a cue appeared in the same location as the upcoming target word) so as to encourage distributed (50% valid cues; Experiments 1 and 3) or focused (100% valid cues; Experiments 2 and 4) spatial attention in a priming-type paradigm. Participants read aloud a target word, and the impact of a simultaneously presented distractor word was assessed. Semantic and orthographic priming effects were present when conditions promoted distributed spatial attention but absent when conditions promoted focused spatial attention. In contrast, Experiment 5 yielded a distractor word effect in the 100% valid cue condition when subjects identified a colour (Stroop task). We take these results to suggest that (1) spatial attention is a necessary preliminary to visual word recognition and (2) examining the role of spatial attention in the context of the Stroop task may have few implications for basic processes in reading because colour processing makes fewer demands on spatial attention than does visual word recognition.     

Transformational and transactional leaderships,empowerment climate,and innovation performance: A multilevel analysis in the Chinese context

Innovation through creativity is an important factor in the success and competitive advantage of organizations. Theory and research suggest that both leadership and organizational climate have important consequences for individual creativity. However, researchers have rarely considered the interactive effects of leadership and organizational climate. This study taking a “Substitute for Leadership” perspective, develops and tests the idea that empowerment climate affect the relationship between leadership and followers' creative performance. Data were collected from 93 teams, including 465 team members and 93 team supervisors, in a large multinational company based in China. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to examine the hypothesized cross-level model. As expected, transformational leadership and team empowerment climate were positively related to subordinates' creative performance and transactional leadership was negatively related to subordinates' creative performance. In addition, the relationship between leadership and subordinates' creative performance was moderated by team empowerment climate. The study resulted in the implication of several major variables for explaining individual creativity in the Chinese context.     

青少年风险决策的时程加工机制：来自ERP的证据

采用事件相关电位（ERP）研究技术,运用剑桥风险任务的实验范式,考察了青少年风险决策的时程加工机制。行为结果表明,在高、中、低三种不确定性条件下,相对于效价,被试的决策更多的关注概率。脑电结果显示：1）不确定性的主效应在N400上表现显著,高不确定条件和中不确定条件的波幅要明显大于低不确定性条件的波幅,而高不确定条件和中不确定条件的波幅无显著差异;2）与中不确定条件相比,高不确定条件和低不确定条件诱发了一个新异正成分（LPC）,高不确定条件和低不确定条件的波幅要明显大于中不确定性条件的波幅,而高不确定条件和低不确定条件的波幅无显著差异。青少年在风险任务中的决策较多的是选择安全选项,表现出较为明显的风险规避倾向。N400的波幅可能反映了不确定性程度,而LPC的波幅大小可能反映了结果评价准确性程度的高低。     

青少年心理应激模型的初步研究

为考察生活事件、社会支持、应对方式、自我评价、人格等影响青少年心理健康的诸因素之间及其与心理健康的关系,初步建构青少年心理应激的结构方程模型,采用ASLEC、CSQ、EPQ、PEI、SSRS、SCL-90对湖南省470名青少年进行问卷调查。结果表明：1）社会支持对自我评价、应对方式有显著的预测作用,并通过人格、自我评价与应对方式间接影响心理健康。2）人格对心理健康有显著的直接效应,并通过应对方式间接影响心理健康。3）自我评价和应对方式是生活事件—心理健康的内部中介过程。     

免费教育师范生学习适应状况及与报考动机的关系

该研究采用《大学生学习适应量表》考察了679名免费教育师范生的学习适应状况与特点,并探讨了报考动机与学习适应之间的关系。结果表明：1）免费教育师范生学习适应处于中等偏上水平,随着入学时间的增加逐步提高,且略优于普通大学生;2）免费教育师范生在学习适应的不同适应维度上存在性别差异;3）免费师范生报考动机有两大类：自愿报考和非自愿报考,报考动机对免费教育师范生学习适应水平具有显著的预测作用。免费教育师范生的学习适应总体上表现良好,报考动机直接影响入学后的学习适应水平。     

张三丰与武当功夫

太极拳以其四两拨千斤的技击理念和深厚的哲学内涵闻名于中外。太极拳源于何处?金庸先生的小说《倚天屠龙记》和电影《太极张三丰》都把张三丰算作太极拳的创始人,而把湖北省十堰市的武当山算作太极拳的发祥地。到底是不是这样呢?太极拳究竟是来源于一个人,还是来源于一种中华民族的文化精神?带着疑问,笔者走进武当,一探究竟。     

Specific and nonspecific thalamocortical functional connectivity in normal and vegetative states

Recent theoretical advances describing consciousness from information and integration have highlighted the unique role of the thalamocortical system in leading to integrated information and thus, consciousness. Here, we examined the differential distributions of specific and nonspecific thalamocortical functional connections using resting-state fMRI in a group of healthy subjects and vegetative-state patients. We found that both thalamic systems were widely distributed, but they exhibited different patterns. Nonspecific connections were preferentially associated with brain regions involved in higher-order cognitive processing, self-awareness and introspective mentalizing (e.g., the dorsal prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices). In contrast, specific connections were prevalent in the ventral and posterior part of the prefrontal and precuneus, known involved in representing externally-directed attentions. Significant reductions of functional connectivity in both systems, especially the nonspecific system, were observed in VS. These data suggest that brain networks sustaining information and integration may be differentiated by the nature of their thalamic functional connectivity.