Brain bases of English morphological processing: A comparison between Chinese-English,Spanish-English bilingual,and English monolingual children

How do early bilingual experiences influence children's neural architecture for word processing? Dual language acquisition can yield common influences that may be shared across different bilingual groups, as well as language-specific influences stemming from a given language pairing. To investigate these effects, we examined bilingual English speakers of Chinese or Spanish, and English monolinguals, all raised in the US (N = 152, ages 5–10). Children completed an English morphological word processing task during fNIRS neuroimaging. The findings revealed both language-specific and shared bilingual effects. The language-specific effects were that Chinese and Spanish bilinguals showed principled differences in their neural organization for English lexical morphology. The common bilingual effects shared by the two groups were that in both bilingual groups, increased home language proficiency was associated with stronger left superior temporal gyrus (STG) activation when processing the English word structures that are most dissimilar from the home language. The findings inform theories of language and brain development during the key periods of neural reorganization for learning to read by illuminating experience-based plasticity in linguistically diverse learners.     

Fragile promise: The role of justification in promise-breaking

People who consider themselves moral sometimes use self-serving justifications to rationalize their selfish behaviours. Previous studies have tested the role of ambiguity in justifying wrongdoings, but it remains unclear whether ambiguity also plays a role in justifying promise-breaking behaviour and whether heterogeneity exists. To investigate justification in promise-breaking, we introduced a new experimental paradigm called the card-guessing task and used hierarchical cluster analysis to classify participants based on their promise-breaking decisions in unambiguous and ambiguous conditions. Experiment 1 revealed three clusters of solutions: Cluster 1 always kept their promises (i.e., keepers); Cluster 2 only exploited the vague promises and broke their promises in the ambiguous condition (i.e., intermediates); Cluster 3 tended to take advantage of vague promises and broke their promises irrespective of ambiguity (i.e., breakers). Experiment 2 confirmed that participants in the three clusters differed in their norm-abiding preferences and social value orientations. Keepers were more altruistic and had a stronger sense of norm compliance than intermediates and breakers. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that self-serving justifications were more likely to be employed by people who are moderately sensitive to deviation from social norms, which has implications for strategic interventions and policy formulation concerning unethical behaviour.     

Differential payoff and locus of selectivity in a visual memory task

Two experiments were run to investigate the locus of selectivity in a visual memory task involving differential payoff for letters correctly recalled: Major variables consisted of value instructions given before or after the exposure of a display, the ratio of high to low value, and exposure duration. The results showed that Ss make more correct reports of higher value than of lesser value, whether value instructions are given before or after the display. Furthermore, overall performance and extent of selectivity increase with increasing exposure time, but more for the before than the after conditions of instruction. These results suggest that selectivity occurs both during perception and retention and during recall.     

Visual on- and off-latencies and handedness

Ten Ss served in this experiment, five right-handed and five left-handed. Every S was tested in a perceived-order situation and by the up-and-down method to determine the relative on-latency for a visual test stimulus. i.e, (ON-Lat for lest stimulus involving right hemisphere- ON-Lat for standard stimulus involving left hemisphere) and to determine a similarly defined relative off-latency for the same test stimulus. The algebraic difference between the relative on-latency measure and the relative off-latency measure was then found. Data from a previous study had suggested that this “on-off difference” was characteristically positive for left-handed Ss and negative for right-handed Ss. The present data agree. The left-handed Ss were found to differ significantly from the right-handed Ss in the magnitude of the on-off difference. This outcome appears important as a possible clue to functional interhemispheric differences related to handedness.     

Satiation effects in the perception of single letters’

When single letters were presented for five flashes, with S making a clarity judgment after each exposure, initial potentiation and subsequent satiation effects were found. A processing task and complete prior knowledge led to an increased probability of a “clear” response on the first exposure and to an earlier onset of the satiation effect. The results are discussed in terms of the neural network model underlying this research.     

The number of ways to label a structure

It has been observed that the number of different ways in which a graph withp points can be labelled isp! divided by the number of symmetries, and that this holds regardless of the species of structure at hand. In this note, a simple group-theoretic proof is provided.This work was supported by Grant MH 10834 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

The use of rats as discriminative stimuli

A FREE OPERANT PROCEDURE WAS USED TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT ONE RAT COULD DISCRIMINATE: (1) between the presence and absence of a second rat, and (2) between two other rats of the same species and sex. The subjects were four male Wistar rats. The discriminatory response was a bar press and food was used as reinforcement during training. Although there were wide individual differences in rate of learning, all subjects learned to make both discriminations.     

The true distributions of the range of rank totals in the two-way classification

This paper presents the results from an investigation of the true probability distributions of the range of rank totals. A procedure for generating an approximation to the true distributions is also given. A comparison of the results of this approximation with an extensive criterion of generated true and sample distributions, and with other approximations is indicated. Accurate estimates of the critical ranges necessary to reach significance at three commonly used alpha levels, where the number of judges and items is less than or equal to sixteen, are presented in tabular form.     

The imp of the reverse: A phenomenology of the unconscious

The debate regarding the unitary versus multiple nature of the human person is examined with special attention to the division between conscious and unconscious. The roots of the unconscious are traced to the experience of alienation or feeling divided within. An existential analysis is provided in order to shed light on the nature of the unconscious. The experience of feeling divided within is explained as a metaphor that is taken literally. An existential-phenomenological explanation of the unconscious is provided which preserves the essential unity of the human person.