Malleability of attitudes or malleability of the IAT?

In the current set of experiments, we establish, and explore the consequences of, the imprecision that characterizes the attribute response labels typically employed in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In Experiment 1, we demonstrate the malleability of the IAT, as conventionally implemented. IAT scores are shown to be influenced by perspective mindsets induced by an unrelated preceding task. Then, we explore how the malleability of the IAT can lead to the inference that attitude change has occurred even when there is very good reason to believe it has not (Experiment 2), and conversely, how it can obscure the detection of attitude change when such change is indeed likely to have occurred (Experiment 3). We provide conceptual explanations for these discrepancies and suggest methodological improvements to enhance the specificity of IAT measures.     

A phase transition model for the speed-accuracy trade-off in response time experiments

Most models of response time (RT) in elementary cognitive tasks implicitly assume that the speed-accuracy trade-off is continuous: When payoffs or instructions gradually increase the level of speed stress, people are assumed to gradually sacrifice response accuracy in exchange for gradual increases in response speed. This trade-off presumably operates over the entire range from accurate but slow responding to fast but chance-level responding (i.e., guessing). In this article, we challenge the assumption of continuity and propose a phase transition model for RTs and accuracy. Analogous to the fast guess model (Ollman, 1966), our model postulates two modes of processing: a guess mode and a stimulus-controlled mode. From catastrophe theory, we derive two important predictions that allow us to test our model against the fast guess model and against the popular class of sequential sampling models. The first prediction--hysteresis in the transitions between guessing and stimulus-controlled behavior--was confirmed in an experiment that gradually changed the reward for speed versus accuracy. The second prediction--bimodal RT distributions--was confirmed in an experiment that required participants to respond in a way that is intermediate between guessing and accurate responding.     

3～6岁儿童空间非标准测量认知加工线索研究

本研究选取北京市3所幼儿园108名3~6岁儿童为被试,采用个别测查法对儿童进行非标准空间测量时所依据的认知加工线索进行研究,结果表明:1、3~6岁儿童在一维空间测量中从两个端点和端点之间的连续空间提取信息进行量的判断,当从端点和端点之间的连续空间提取的线索不一致时,多数儿童不能对其进行整合;2、3~6岁儿童二维空间测量主要遵循一维规则,并且一维规则适用于各种图形;3、儿童根据空间量中显著特征进行量的判断,儿童对作为判断依据的显著特征的选择受各维度对比度影响。     

汉字识别中部件的频率效应

用整字识别、整合识别和部件识别任务探讨部件频率在汉字显示识别中的作用．实验一发现第一部件频率促进低频两部件合体字识别;实验二先后呈现合体字两组成部件并识别整字,第二部件频率有干扰作用;实验三识别合体字中的部件,部件频率有易化作用．部件在汉字识别中的易化和干扰作用受整字频率和结构类型的影响．     

克隆人的尊严是如何被先天贬损的?——兼向翟振明教授请教

在反对生殖性克隆的诸种理由中,尊严论证是最具有说服力的道德主张.反对生殖性克隆的基本共识是,基因组被他人预先决定会导致克隆人的尊严被贬损.尊严论证需要解决的核心问题就是基因被决定为什么会导致尊严被贬损.一般情况下,纯粹工具性的克隆意图,会导致克隆者将自己的自由意志强加于克隆的自由意志之上,从而导致自由意志主体间的对等性的破缺,使克隆人的尊严在原初意义上就被贬损.但是上述情况不能涵盖所有的克隆意图,在其他情况下,克隆人的尊严是因为自由意志的实现受到限制而被侵犯的.     

不同科学创造力个体干扰抑制机制的比较*

选取《科学创造力量表》筛选出高、低科学创造力个体各20名,通过完成经典Stroop色字干扰抑制任务,探讨高、低科学创造力的个体抑制机制的差异。结果发现:在Stroop色字任务上,无论是高科学创造力组还是低科学创造力组,都出现了Stroop干扰效应,但低科学创造力组的Stroop效应更明显;高科学创造力组在字色不一致条件下的错误率显著低于低科学创造力组,但是两组被试在Stroop任务反应时上差异不显著。本研究结果提示高科学创造力个体的认知抑制能力强于低科学创造力个体。     

First-Year Maternal Employment and Adolescent Externalizing Behavior

Associations between first-year maternal employment and mother—and youth-reported externalizing behavior at age 15 were examined paying attention to potential mediating roles of home and child care environments by 36?months, effortful control at 54?months, and externalizing behavior at 54?months and middle childhood. We used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n?=?922 non-Hispanic White children) which is a prospective birth cohort study that followed children from birth to age 15. Full-time first-year maternal employment was associated with higher levels of externalizing behavior at age 15 through higher maternal depressive symptoms by 36?months, lower effortful control at 54?months, and higher externalizing behavior at 54?months and middle childhood. Part-time first-year maternal employment was not associated with higher externalizing behavior at age 15.     

The involvement of central attention in visual search is determined by task demands

Attention, the mechanism by which a subset of sensory inputs is prioritized over others, operates at multiple processing stages. Specifically, attention enhances weak sensory signal at the perceptual stage, while it serves to select appropriate responses or consolidate sensory representations into short-term memory at the central stage. This study investigated the independence and interaction between perceptual and central attention. To do so, I used a dual-task paradigm, pairing a four-alternative choice task with a visual search task. The results showed that central attention for response selection was engaged in perceptual processing for visual search when the number of search items increased, thereby increasing the demand for serial allocation of focal attention. By contrast, central attention and perceptual attention remained independent as far as the demand for serial shifting of focal attention remained constant; decreasing stimulus contrast or increasing the set size of a parallel search did not evoke the involvement of central attention in visual search. These results suggest that the nature of concurrent visual search process plays a crucial role in the functional interaction between two different types of attention.