Plasticity of inhibition in older adults: Retest practice and transfer effects

This study assessed plasticity of inhibition in older adults through examining retest practice effects in a six-session training paradigm using the Stroop task and the training-induced transfer effects to a range of cognitive measures. Fifty-six older adults (aged 60-84 years, mean = 71.05, standard deviation = 6.17) participated in this study. They were evenly assigned to one of four groups: summary feedback, individualized and adaptive feedback, no-feedback, or a no-contact control group. The results suggest that older adults are able to improve inhibition across retest sessions but unable to transfer the retest practice effects to other tasks. In addition, the improvement is not item specific and feedback does not appear to moderate the magnitude of the training benefits; however, feedback does appear to reduce interference variance across retest practice sessions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Staring us in the face? An embodied theory of innate face preference

Human expertise in face perception grows over development, but even within minutes of birth, infants exhibit an extraordinary sensitivity to face‐like stimuli. The dominant theory accounts for innate face detection by proposing that the neonate brain contains an innate face detection device, dubbed ‘Conspec’. Newborn face preference has been promoted as some of the strongest evidence for innate knowledge, and forms a canonical stage for the modern form of the nature–nurture debate in psychology. Interpretation of newborn face preference results has concentrated on monocular stimulus properties, with little mention or focused investigation of potential binocular involvement. However, the question of whether and how newborns integrate the binocular visual streams bears directly on the generation of observable visual preferences. In this theoretical paper, we employ a synthetic approach utilizing robotic and computational models to draw together the threads of binocular integration and face preference in newborns, and demonstrate cases where the former may explain the latter. We suggest that a system‐level view considering the binocular embodiment of newborn vision may offer a mutually satisfying resolution to some long‐running arguments in the polarizing debate surrounding the existence and causal structure of newborns' ‘innate knowledge’ of faces.     

Observation of strain distributions in partially relaxed In0.2Ga0.8As on GaAs using electron channelling contrast imaging

Electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI) has been used to image misfit dislocations between single epitaxial layers (epilayers) of In0.2Ga0.8As grown on GaAs (001). Bulk specimens of the as-grown material were examined over a range of epilayer thickness from 25 to 3000 nm. Spectral analysis of ECCI intensity traces was used to establish whether strain fields from the individual dislocations overlapped. Significant overlapping of strain fields was first observed at an epilayer thickness of 100 nm which corresponds well to the onset of macroscopic strain relaxation.     

The Role of Individual Differences in the Accuracy of Confidence Judgments

Generally, self-assessment of accuracy in the cognitive domain produces overconfidence, whereas self-assessment of visual perceptual judgments results in under-confidence. Despite contrary empirical evidence, in models attempting to explain those phenomena, individual differences have often been disregarded. The authors report on 2 studies in which that shortcoming was addressed. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 520) completed a large number of cognitive-ability tests. Results indicated that individual differences provide a meaningful source of overconfidence and that a metacognitive trait might mediate that effect. In further analysis, there was only a relatively small correlation between test accuracy and confidence bias. In Experiment 2 (N = 107 participants), both perceptual and cognitive ability tests were included, along with measures of personality. Results again indicated the presence of a confidence factor that transcended the nature of the testing vehicle. Furthermore, a small relationship was found between that factor and some self-reported personality measures. Thus, personality traits and cognitive ability appeared to play only a small role in determining the accuracy of self-assessment. Collectively, the present results suggest that there are multiple causes of miscalibration, which current models of over- and underconfidence fail to encompass.     

The effects of stimulus size on bisection judgements in near and far space

Primate data suggest that near (peripersonal) and far (extrapersonal) space are coded within distinct representations. Support for this claim has been gained from human studies of line bisection, many of which have focused on neuropsychological, rather than normative, samples. One important aspect of these bisection studies has been to control for the changes in angular extent of stimuli that normally accompany changes in viewing distance. The control of angular information, however, requires alterations in the linear dimensions (actual stimulus size) of stimuli. We report two experiments in which normal subjects made manual bisection judgements on stimuli positioned in near or far space, and which were oriented in either the left-right (Experiment 1) or radial plane (Experiment 2). Both experiments were designed to enable the separable effects of linear and angular extent to be disentangled. Viewing distance effects were obtained when angular information was controlled, but many of these were dependent on changes in linear extent, and were only apparent at the individual subject level. Our data confirm that genuine near/far effects may be observed in normative bisection, but that many previous studies which appeared to support a near/far distinction in both normal and brain-damaged bisection behaviour may reflect a failure to control for changes in stimulus size.     

东方和西方：“深刻”之概念

本文将对一个哲学家极少谈及但不失为哲学敏感话题的概念进行一番梳理,以此促进吾侪对其之理解.我试图证明的是,理解这一概念可以借助比较研究的方法.     

Using Conversation Analysis in Feminist and Critical Research

Conversation analysis – the study of talk‐in‐interaction – is proving a valuable tool for politically engaged inquiry and social critique. This article illustrates the use of conversation analysis in feminist and critical research, drawing on a range of empirical studies. After introducing conversation analysis – its theoretical assumptions, methodological practices and empirical findings – it highlights projects based on two key conversation analytic domains: turn‐taking and turn design, and sequence organization and preference structure. The final section examines the key contributions of conversation analysis to feminist and critical work in the areas of categories and gender; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues; women's labour; and the politics, ethics and design of the research process.     

The enemy between us: The psychological and social costs of inequality

There is now substantial evidence that larger income differences in a society increase the prevalence of most of the health and social problems that tend to occur more frequently lower down the social ladder. The pathways through which human beings are sensitive to inequality are however less clear. This paper outlines the explanatory theory that we think best fits the growing but incomplete body of evidence available. Inequality appears to have its most fundamental effects on the quality of social relations—with implications affecting the prevalence of a number of psychopathologies. We suggest that human beings have two contrasting evolved social strategies: one that is adaptive to living in a dominance hierarchy and the other appropriate to more egalitarian societies based on reciprocity and cooperation. Although both strategies are used in all societies, we hypothesise that the balance between them changes with the extent of material inequality.     

A life worth giving? The threshold for permissible withdrawal of life support from disabled newborn infants

When is it permissible to allow a newborn infant to die on the basis of their future quality of life? The prevailing official view is that treatment may be withdrawn only if the burdens in an infant's future life outweigh the benefits. In this paper I outline and defend an alternative view. On the Threshold View, treatment may be withdrawn from infants if their future well-being is below a threshold that is close to, but above the zero-point of well-being. I present four arguments in favor of the Threshold View, and identify and respond to several counter-arguments. I conclude that it is justifiable in some circumstances for parents and doctors to decide to allow an infant to die even though the infant's life would be worth living. The Threshold View provides a justification for treatment decisions that is more consistent, more robust, and potentially more practical than the standard view.