Perceived discrimination and substance use in African American parents and their children: a panel study

The relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use was examined in a panel of 684 African American families, using the prototype-willingness model of adolescent health risk (F. X. Gibbons, M. Gerrard, & D. Lane, 2003). Discrimination was concurrently and prospectively related to use in the parents and the children (mean age=10.5 years at Wave 1). The discrimination-->use relation in the parents was mediated by distress (anxiety and depression). Among the children, the relation was mediated by distress as well as their risk cognitions (favorability of their risk images and their willingness to use) and the extent to which they reported affiliating with friends who were using substances. Each of these relations with discrimination was positive. In contrast, effective parenting was associated with less willingness and intention to use. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.     

Spontaneous humor among right hemisphere stroke survivors

We analyzed spontaneous conversational humor production and response among 11 right hemisphere-damaged (RHD) patients, 10 left hemisphere-damaged (LHD) patients, 7 normal controls (NC), and their spouses. RHD patients and their spouses reported a statistically significant decline in the patients' orientation to humor post-stroke. Also, we found a significant positive association between a RHD patient's ability to decode prosody and their self-reported orientation to humor post-stroke.     

学前儿童对事实、信念、愿望和情绪间关系的认知

76名3至5岁儿童接受了区分事实和信念、根据信念推测他人愿望、根据愿望推测他人情绪等实验任务,通过考查学前儿童对事实、信念、愿望和情绪间关系的认知,探察学前儿童心理理论发展的特点。结果显示3岁儿童在区分信念和事实时,出现错报事实或错报信念两种错误,而不单纯是现实主义偏向错误;在推测他人愿望时,部分3岁和4岁儿童虽然能够正确报告他人的信念却不能正确推测他人愿望,愿望认知发展有其复杂性的一面。学前儿童主要依据愿望推测他人情绪,儿童对信念和愿望的认知水平制约儿童对他人情绪的理解。     

Preserved spatial memory over brief intervals in older adults

Two studies compared young and older adults' memory for location information after brief intervals. Experiment 1 found that accuracy of intentional spatial memory for individual locations was similar in young and older participants for set sizes of 3 and 6. Both groups also encoded individual locations in relation to the larger configuration of locations. Experiment 2 showed that like young adults, older adults' latency to respond to a test probe in a letter working memory task was negatively influenced by spatial information that was irrelevant to the task. This interference effect indicated preserved incidental memory for spatial information in older adults. Together, these data suggest that initial encoding of spatial information for relatively small numbers of items is largely preserved in healthy older adults and that representations of spatial information persist over short intervals.     

Relative area and relative luminance combine to anchor surface lightness values.

The anchoring of lightness perception was tested in simple visual fields composed of only two regions by placing observes inside opaque acrylic hemispheres. Both side-by-side and center/surround configurations were tested. The results, which undermine Gilchrist and Bonato's (1995) recent claim that surrounds tend to appear white, indicate that anchoring involves both relative luminance and relative area. As long as the area of the darker region is equal to or smaller than the area of the lighter region, relative area plays no role in anchoring. Only relative luminance controls anchoring: The lighter region appears white, and the darker region is perceived relative to that value. When the area of the darker region becomes greater than that of the lighter region, relative area begins to play a role. As the darker region becomes larger and relative area shifts from the lighter region to the darker region, the appearance of the darker region moves toward white and the appearance of lighter region moves toward luminosity. This hitherto unrecognized rule is consistent with almost all of the many previous reports of area effects in lightness and brightness. This in turn suggests that a wide range of earlier work on area effects in brightness induction, lightness contrast, lightness assimilation, and luminosity perception can be understood in terms of a few simple rules of anchoring.     

性别加工的记忆效应与内隐性别刻板印象

本研究以72名在校大学生为被试,采用心理过程分离程序,探讨了不同性别加工学习条件下被试的记忆效果。实验结果表明：在两性角色行为特征的认知过程中,意识过程和无意识过程对记忆效果的影响是不同的。有意识的外显记忆效果,两种条件无显著差异;但在无意识的内隐记忆效果上差异显著,反映了一种对女性另眼相看,严格苛求的内隐性别刻板印象。     

不同反应方式对双作业操作信息干扰的影响

本研究采用单作业双作业操作,探讨了不同反应方式对双作业操作信息干扰的影响。实验结果证明;若采用相同的反应方式,同时操作的两种作业就会产生相互干扰,降低作业绩效;相反,若采用不同反应方式将减小双作业操作的相互干扰,提高双作业操作绩效。     

生物反馈放松训练和表象训练在飞行训练中的应用研究

本研究试用生物反馈放松训练和表象训练相结合方法,减轻飞行学员的精神紧张及有关的生理反应、２６名２０—２２岁的男性飞行学员,实验、对照组各１３名、实验组学员每次飞行后进行一次肌电生物反馈放松训练和起落航线表象训练,共１６次;对照组学员参加日常飞行训练不加任何干预。实验前后实验组及对照组学员进行黑红数字测试,记录其测试前后的血压、心率;第一次升空及单飞考核飞行后也记录他们的血压和心率。结果表明,实验组学员的单飞考核成绩优于对照组;实验织学员单飞考核后的收缩压及第二次黑红数字测试后的收缩压比实验前显著降低;而对照组的前述生理指标无变化。生物反馈放松训练和表象训练能有效地减轻飞行中的紧张情绪及其生理反应,适于在飞行部队应用。     

学前儿童对短时时距的区分及其认知策略

本研究以令儿童比较时距长短为手段进一步探查学前（５、６岁）儿童对短时时距的认知过程,挖掘幼儿的认知潜力。研究结果表明：１）学前５、６岁儿童已能区分只有几秒钟差异的短时时距;２）６岁儿童已能使用时间标尺测量时间,５岁儿童已有潜力把时间看成是可以计数的维量;３）两时距的时间差别大小是影响儿童认知成绩的主要因素之一。