The effect of visual search efficiency on response preparation: neurophysiological evidence for discrete flow

Most models assume that response time (RT) comprises the time required for successive processing stages, but they disagree about whether information is transmitted continuously or discretely between stages. We tested these alternative hypotheses by measuring when movement-related activity began in the frontal eye field (FEF) of macaque monkeys performing visual search. Previous work showed that RT was longer when visual neurons in FEF took longer to select the target, a finding consistent with prolonged perceptual processing during less efficient search. We now report that the buildup of saccadic movement-related activity in FEF is delayed in inefficient visual search. Variability in the delay of movement-related activity accounted for the difference in RT between search conditions and for the variability of RT within conditions. These findings provide neurophysiological support for the hypothesis that information is transmitted discretely between perceptual and response stages of processing during visual search.     

Extending the technology acceptance model to mobile telecommunication innovation: The existence of network externalities

• Consumer acceptance of technological innovations is crucial to marketing new products. According to the most influential model in this area, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) determine users' behavioural intentions to use or purchase a system or product. In the specific context of network externalities, a sense of utility that arises from the number of users (NOU) is considered as important as technology‐specific valuation. This study conducted an empirical survey to examine the effects of TAM and network externalities on the acceptance of Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS), an innovation in the field of mobile telecommunications. The results confirm the effectiveness of the TAM and find that network externalities effect affects users' acceptance to this mobile innovations. Accordingly, the TAM can be applied to predict consumer's acceptance to the mobile telecommunication innovations in the presence of network externalities.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

靶刺激变换对情景知觉过程中注视控制的影响

研究考察了情景浏览过程中靶刺激变换对注视控制的影响,运用了眼动记录技术。实验采用2(靶刺激位置:左、右)×2(变换方式:增加靶刺激、删除靶刺激)的重复测量设计。结果发现:(1)靶刺激变换方式对靶刺激所属兴趣区首次注视启动时间存在显著性影响,并对靶刺激所属兴趣区的前3次注视持续时间产生影响;(2)靶刺激位置属性对兴趣区首次注视启动时间、前3次注视持续时间均不存在显著影响。结果表明,与靶刺激增加相比,靶刺激的删除更易引起被试的优先注意,而且会抑制首次注视过程中的信息提取。     

浅析消费领域中的审美现象

随着经济文化的发展和生活水平的提高,消费领域中出现了很多与审美相关的消费。本文透过这些现象分析消费者进行审美消费的内在动因,并且探讨一些应对思路。     

毛泽东的信仰轨迹：从有神论到无神论

1893年,毛泽东出生在湖南一个偏僻闭塞的山村,像大多数中国农村妇女一样,母亲高氏信佛。因为头两个孩子在襁褓中夭折,所以毛泽东出生后,高氏曾多方祈求神佛保佑,虔诚吃“观音斋”。关于童年的生活,毛泽东说:“我父亲早年和中年都不信神,可是我母亲却是一个虔诚的佛教徒。她向自     

早期音乐暴露增强大鼠分辨声音时程的作业能力

用声一电防御性条件反射的方法。对42只具有不同早期听觉经验的大鼠的声音时程分辨行为进行了观察和比较研究。实验结果表明：大鼠具有一定的分辨声音时程的作业能力,出生后早期的音乐暴露,能够明显增强大鼠分辨声音时程的作业能力。     

The role of storytelling in advertising: Consumer emotion,narrative engagement level,and word‐of‐mouth intention

This experimental study with a national online sample (n = 300) tested the effects of storytelling in radio advertisements on participants' positive emotional responses and intentions to share information about the product, depending on audiences' narrative engagement level. Treatments included a commercial for a fictitious brand of luggage using a story told by the founder of the company, another version of the same commercial manipulated so the speaker was a customer of the company, and a control stimulus consisting only of information about the product. Results showed that narrative transportation and narrative preference are positively associated with favorable responses toward ad. Stories elicited more favorable emotional responses and had some effect on participants' intention to share information about the product by word‐of‐mouth. This was especially true among participants hearing the founder's story. Results support previous assumptions about the power of storytelling in advertising, including distinctions regarding the identity of the speaker (founder vs. customer).     

Development of category formation for faces differing by age in 9‐ to 12‐month‐olds: An effect of experience with infant faces

We examined category formation for faces differing in age in 9‐ and 12‐month‐olds, and the influence of exposure to infant faces on such ability. Infants were familiarized with adult or infant faces, and then tested with a novel exemplar from the familiarized category paired with a novel exemplar from a novel category (Experiment 1). Both age groups formed discrete categories of adult and infant faces, but exposure to infant faces in everyday life did not modulate performance. The same task was conducted with child versus infant faces (Experiment 2). Whereas 9‐month‐olds preferred infant faces after familiarization with child faces, but not child faces after familiarization with infant faces, 12‐month‐olds formed discrete categories of child and infant faces. Moreover, more exposure to infant faces correlated with higher novel category preference scores when infants were familiarized with infant faces in 12‐month‐olds, but not 9‐month‐olds. The 9‐month‐old asymmetry did not reflect spontaneous preference for infant over child faces (Experiment 3). These findings indicate that 9‐ and 12‐month‐olds can form age‐based categories of faces. The ability of 12‐month‐olds to form separate child and infant categories suggests that they have a more exclusive representation of face age, one that may be influenced by prior experience with infant faces.     

Adolescents' knowledge of medical terminology and family health history.

Compared 309 youths ages 11 to 15 years and their parents with respect to their comprehension of terms for seven common medical disorders: heart attack, stroke, atherosclerosis, ulcer, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. For two thirds of the adolescent sample, accuracy of reporting of these disorders among the parents and grandparents was assessed. Results indicated considerable variation among disorders with respect to both comprehension of terms and accuracy of family health history. Adolescents' age was a major predictor of knowledge of medical terms (r = .41). Age was not related to accuracy of family health information. Consonant with this finding, adolescents' level of accuracy regarding family health history was generally similar to that of previous adult samples, suggesting that family health information is acquired and retained at an early age. Adolescents were more accurate concerning parents' compared with grandparents' history of hypertension.