童年期攻击行为发展的追踪研究

本研究采用"班级戏剧问卷"对中部一所小学3、4年级的285名儿童进行了3年追踪调查,研究了3年来儿童的外部攻击和关系攻击发展趋势及其在个体间的差异,并探讨了两类攻击行为发展趋势之间的关系。结果表明:(1)童年中后期外部攻击和关系攻击的变化趋势不显著。并且初始测量的外部攻击水平高的儿童,其关系攻击水平也较高;外部攻击行为变化较快的儿童,其关系攻击变化也比较快。(2)男生的外部攻击水平显著高于女生,而关系攻击的性别差异不显著。四年级关系攻击的上升速度快于三年级;初始为关系攻击较高组相对于较低组,他们的关系攻击随时间的上升速度也比较快。     

几种场相依/场独立测量工具间的相关研究

镶嵌图形测验、框线测验和认知偏差任务是目前国际上常用的三种场相依/场独立的测量工具。该研究发现：1）在框线测验中,个体不受背景信息干扰的能力,与整合背景信息的能力存在显著正相关关系;2）执行镶嵌图形测验愈佳者,执行框线测验的绝对任务与相对任务也愈佳;3）但认知偏差任务与镶嵌图形测验以及框线测验均无相关关系。因此,个体在感知过程中对场的利用,与其在推理决策过程中对场的利用,很可能是两个独立的心理过程。此外,由于镶嵌图形测验与智商测验有相关,框线测验可能更适合于跨文化心理学中对场相依/场独立概念的测量。     

儿童早期"心理理论"发展研究中的几个基本问题

儿童"心理理论"的发展研究是当今发展心理学中最活跃的领域之一.近年来,该领域的研究重点已逐渐由一般的发展描述,转向关于"心理理论"的缘起与发展机制的研究.由此,有许多密切相关的关于早期"心理理论"发生发展及其评估的基本问题,横亘于研究者面前,迄今仍悬而未决,并引发诸多争议.如何解决这些问题并理顺它们之间的关系,将极大地影响着该领域今后的研究进展.     

Reorientation and landmark-guided search by young children: evidence for two systems

Disoriented 4-year-old children use a distinctive container to locate a hidden object, but do they reorient by this information? We addressed this question by testing children's search for objects in a circular room containing one distinctive and two identical containers. Children's search patterns provided evidence that the distinctive container served as a direct cue to a hidden object's location, but not as a directional signal guiding reorientation. The findings suggest that disoriented children's search behavior depends on two distinct processes: a modular reorientation process attuned to the geometry of the surface layout and an associative process linking landmarks to specific locations.     

Effect of a novel motion desensitization training regime and controlled breathing on habituation to motion sickness

To study whether controlled breathing, known to ameliorate motion sickness, speeds habituation to nauseogenic motion when used in a novel accelerated training regime, 30 participants (13 men, 17 women, ages 18-51 years) were randomized to either a Breathing group or a Control group. Randomization was balanced for rotation tolerance measured during a first exposure to off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR 72 degrees sec.(-1)). Participants subsequently received four exposures to OVAR in 1-hr. (accelerated training). The Breathing group followed taped instructions to control their breathing during training and when retested the next day. There was overall habituation with stimulus repetition, shown by an increase in tolerance for motion, a reduction in symptoms, and speeded recovery times on retesting. There was a tendency for greater habituation with controlled breathing.     

中国优秀运动员6项心理技能研究

本研究采用标准化《运动心理技能问卷》并结合其它测试数据,对151名中国优秀运动员作了研究,结果表明:1.中国优秀运动员已初步掌握了焦虑控制(AX)、集中注意力(CC)、提高自信心(CF)、提高动机水平(MV)和加强集体意识(TM)的心理技能,他们在自信心和集体意识方面表现非常突出,而在心理准备(MP)方面则表现欠缺;2.除运动动机方面外,中国优秀运动页未表现出心理技能的差异性;3.运动等级(技术水平)不同,运动员的心理技能有差别;4.根据中国优秀运动员心理技能可以把他们分成4种类型,它们是心理技能发展水平较低的心理准备型和自信心型;心理技能发展水平较高的自信心——集体意识型和自信心——集中注意力型。     

Sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support development of perceptual rhythm processing

We studied the role of sensorimotor and working memory systems in supporting development of perceptual rhythm processing with 119 participants aged 7–12 years. Children were assessed for their abilities in sensorimotor synchronization (SMS; beat tapping), auditory working memory (AWM; digit span), and rhythm discrimination (RD; same/different judgment on a pair of musical rhythm sequences). Multiple regression analysis revealed that children's RD performance was independently predicted by higher beat tapping consistency and greater digit span score, with all other demographic variables (age, sex, socioeconomic status, music training) controlled. The association between RD and SMS was more robust in the slower tempos (60 and 100 beats-per-minute (BPM)) than faster ones (120 and 180 BPM). Critically, the relation of SMS to RD was moderated by age in that RD performance was predicted by beat tapping consistency in younger children (age: 7–9 years), but not in older children (age: 10–12 years). AWM was the only predictor of RD in older children. Together, the current findings demonstrate that the sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support RD processing during middle-to-late childhood and that the degree of association between the two systems and perceptual rhythm processing is shifted before entering into early adolescence.     

Heterospecific eavesdropping on disturbance cues of a treefrog

Animal Cognition - Alarm signals and cues are crucial to animal survival and vary greatly across species. Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm signals and cues can provide eavesdroppers with...     

Simple Threshold Rules Solve Explore/Exploit Trade-offs in a Resource Accumulation Search Task

How, and how well, do people switch between exploration and exploitation to search for and accumulate resources? We study the decision processes underlying such exploration/exploitation trade-offs using a novel card selection task that captures the common situation of searching among multiple resources (e.g., jobs) that can be exploited without depleting. With experience, participants learn to switch appropriately between exploration and exploitation and approach optimal performance. We model participants' behavior on this task with random, threshold, and sampling strategies, and find that a linear decreasing threshold rule best fits participants' results. Further evidence that participants use decreasing threshold-based strategies comes from reaction time differences between exploration and exploitation; however, participants themselves report non-decreasing thresholds. Decreasing threshold strategies that “front-load” exploration and switch quickly to exploitation are particularly effective in resource accumulation tasks, in contrast to optimal stopping problems like the Secretary Problem requiring longer exploration.     

Relation matters: relative depth order is stored in working memory for depth

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Working memory is considered as a cognitive memory buffer for temporarily holding, processing, and manipulating information. Although working memory for verbal...