基于视听双通道的音乐情绪冲突效应及优势通道研究

为探讨基于视听双通道的音乐情绪冲突效应、冲突情境下的优势加工通道和音乐经验对结果的影响,本研究采用音乐表演视频为材料,比较音乐组和非音乐组被试在一致型和不一致型视听双通道下的情绪评定速度、准确性及强度。结果发现:(1)一致型条件下的情绪评定更准确且更强烈;(2)不一致型条件下,被试更多以听觉通道的情绪线索为依据进行情绪类型评定;(3)非音乐组被试比音乐组被试更依赖视觉通道的情绪线索。结果表明:通道间情绪信息的不一致阻碍了音乐情绪加工; 听觉通道是音乐情绪冲突情境下的优势加工通道; 音乐经验降低了情绪冲突效应对音乐组被试的干扰。     

情感代理能否提高多媒体学习的效果?

近年来,情感代理如何影响学习受到了研究者们的高度重视。情感代理是可以通过面部表情、声音、肢体动作和言语信息等影响学习者情感体验的教学代理。以往研究主要关注两种类型的情感代理：表达型情感代理和移情型情感代理。表达型情感代理是仅通过自身的情绪表达(如：使用微笑的面部表情和热情的声音)以影响学习者情绪体验的代理。移情型情感代理则是能根据学习者的学习表现或情绪状态给予情感反馈(如;点头、鼓励和共情)的代理,其目的是为了调节学习者的情绪、激励其继续努力。虽然不同的研究者对情感代理的具体操作有所不同,但无论哪种类型的情感代理均是为了增加学习者的积极情绪,提高内部动机,最终促进学习。关于情感代理的潜在作用,研究者基于不同的理论观点给出了不同的解释。情绪感染理论认为一个人的情绪状态容易受到另一个人情绪表达的影响,因此界面代理的情绪会直接影响学习者的情绪和动机。情绪反应理论认为如果教师的言语和非言语线索诱发了积极的情绪,学习者就会产生趋近学习的行为(例如,制定相应的学习计划)。多媒体学习认知情感理论强调了学习过程中情感和动机的重要性。基于多媒体学习认知情感理论,情感代理能唤起学习者的积极情绪,增加学习动机,进而提高学习成绩。而认知负荷理论和干扰理论却认为情感代理丰富的面部表情和手势动作可能会增加学习者的外部认知负荷,吸引学习者的注意力,减少对关键信息的注意,因此干扰学习效果。在上述理论的指导下,研究者们对情感代理的效果进行了探究,结果发现,情感代理可以有效地唤起学习者的积极情绪(d_积极情绪= 0.45),提高学习动机(d_内部动机= 0.52)。但不一定能影响认知负荷（d_{内部认知负荷} = -0.01;d_{外部认知负荷} = 0.09;d_{相关认知负荷} = 0.08）,并且在学习效果上的作用也比较微弱(d_保持 = 0.18;d_理解 = 0.32;d_迁移 = 0.14;d_联合 = 0.32)。情感代理在学习效果上的作用不稳健的原因可能是受到了潜在调节因素的影响。例如,学习者的个体特征（如,工作记忆能力和年级水平）、情感代理的类型、任务特征和测验时间等。总之,尽管目前关于情感代理的研究结果存在不一致,但整体而言,在积极情感代理条件下,学习者更加快乐,更有动力。因此,在教育实践中,教学设计者可以考虑为学习者呈现一个积极的教学代理以帮助他们更加快乐地学习。未来关于情感代理的研究需要继续关注情感代理的操纵和评定方法;探究影响情感代理效果的边界条件;考察情感代理影响学习背后的神经机制;提高情感代理研究的生态效度等。     

正念训练对康复期精神分裂症患者抑制控制的影响

探究正念训练对康复期精神分裂症患者正念觉知水平和抑制控制能力的影响。选取54名康复期精神分裂症住院患者随机分为正念组和对照组。对照组予以常规康复治疗,正念组在常规康复治疗基础上进行8周正念训练。结果发现：（1）在正念觉知方面,正念组后测得分显著高于前测,对照组前后测得分无显著差异;正念组后测得分显著高于对照组。（2）在抑制控制方面,正念组后测Stroop任务反应时显著低于前测,对照组前后测反应时无显著差异;正念组后测反应时显著低于对照组。结果表明,正念训练有助于提高康复期精神分裂症患者正念觉知水平和改善其抑制控制能力。     

睾酮对价值加工的影响——基于“累积前景”理论框架的决策行为研究

较多研究支持睾酮和决策中的风险寻求行为呈正相关,但是也有其他的研究未能发现这种关系。基于决策的累计前景理论,本研究使用动态估计参数估计任务(DEEP),结合计算模型的方法,对120名双盲给药、有安慰剂对照的被试进行睾酮对价值加工过程作用的探究。结果显示,睾酮减少了个体的概率扭曲以及增加了损失规避,但是没有引发明显的风险寻求行为,研究结果表明睾酮对个体的价值加工过程产生了影响,使个体对概率的感知更接近于客观值并且增加了对损失的敏感性。     

A Class of Distribution-Free Models for Longitudinal Mediation Analysis

Mediation analysis constitutes an important part of treatment study to identify the mechanisms by which an intervention achieves its effect. Structural equation model (SEM) is a popular framework for modeling such causal relationship. However, current methods impose various restrictions on the study designs and data distributions, limiting the utility of the information they provide in real study applications. In particular, in longitudinal studies missing data is commonly addressed under the assumption of missing at random (MAR), where current methods are unable to handle such missing data if parametric assumptions are violated. In this paper, we propose a new, robust approach to address the limitations of current SEM within the context of longitudinal mediation analysis by utilizing a class of functional response models (FRM). Being distribution-free, the FRM-based approach does not impose any parametric assumption on data distributions. In addition, by extending the inverse probability weighted (IPW) estimates to the current context, the FRM-based SEM provides valid inference for longitudinal mediation analysis under the two most popular missing data mechanisms; missing completely at random (MCAR) and missing at random (MAR). We illustrate the approach with both real and simulated data.     

Therapy with Families in China: Cultural Factors Influencing the Therapeutic Alliance and Therapy Goals

Rapid economic and social development in China is producing opportunities for a better standard of living for many families but also is associated with significant stress. Family therapy is one of the forms of mental health services that have become increasingly available. Western-derived models of family therapy are being used and adapted to meet the cultural traditions and needs of Chinese families. This article describes a variety of Chinese cultural factors that can influence the establishment of therapeutic alliances with family members (communication styles, collectivist values, family roles, and structure) and those that can shape family therapy interventions by addressing contextual factors affecting Chinese families (economic development, migration patterns, academic pressure, and changing gender roles for women). Suggestions are offered for using cultural sensitivity to address these factors tactfully to build strong therapeutic alliances and help families cope with significant life stresses.     

Kin rejection: social signals,neural response and perceived distress during social exclusion

Across species, kin bond together to promote survival. We sought to understand the dyadic effect of exclusion by kin (as opposed to non‐kin strangers) on brain activity of the mother and her child and their subjective distress. To this end, we probed mother–child relationships with a computerized ball‐toss game Cyberball. When excluded by one another, rather than by a stranger, both mothers and children exhibited a significantly pronounced frontal P2. Moreover, upon kin rejection versus stranger rejection, both mothers and children showed incremented left frontal positive slow waves for rejection events. Children reported more distress upon exclusion than their own mothers. Similar to past work, relatively augmented negative frontal slow wave activity predicted greater self‐reported ostracism distress. This effect, generalized to the P2, was limited to mother‐ or child‐rejection by kin, with comparable magnitude of effect across kin identity (mothers vs. children). For both mothers and children, the frontal P2 peak was significantly pronounced for kin rejection versus stranger rejection. Taken together, our results document the rapid categorization of social signals as kin relevant and the specificity of early and late neural markers for predicting felt ostracism.     

Seeing two faces together: preference formation in humans and rhesus macaques

Humans, great apes and old world monkeys show selective attention to faces depending on conspecificity, familiarity, and social status supporting the view that primates share similar face processing mechanisms. Although many studies have been done on face scanning strategy in monkeys and humans, the mechanisms influencing viewing preference have received little attention. To determine how face categories influence viewing preference in humans and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), we performed two eye-tracking experiments using a visual preference task whereby pairs of faces from different species were presented simultaneously. The results indicated that viewing time was significantly influenced by the pairing of the face categories. Humans showed a strong bias towards an own-race face in an Asian–Caucasian condition. Rhesus macaques directed more attention towards non-human primate faces when they were paired with human faces, regardless of the species. When rhesus faces were paired with faces from Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) or chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), the novel species’ faces attracted more attention. These results indicate that monkeys’ viewing preferences, as assessed by a visual preference task, are modulated by several factors, species and dominance being the most influential.     

Local intracortical circuitry not only for feature binding but also for rapid neuronal responses

Neurons of primary sensory cortices are known to have specific responsiveness to elemental features. To express more complex sensory attributes that are embedded in objects or events, the brain must integrate them. This is referred to as feature binding and is reflected in correlated neuronal activity. We investigated how local intracortical circuitry modulates ongoing-spontaneous neuronal activity, which would have a great impact on the processing of subsequent combinatorial input, namely, on the correlating (binding) of relevant features. We simulated a functional, minimal neural network model of primary visual cortex, in which lateral excitatory connections were made in a diffusive manner between cell assemblies that function as orientation columns. A pair of bars oriented at specific angles, expressing a visual corner, was applied to the network. The local intracortical circuitry contributed not only to inducing correlated neuronal activation and thus to binding the paired features but also to making membrane potentials oscillate at firing-subthreshold during an ongoing-spontaneous time period. This led to accelerating the reaction speed of principal cells to the input. If the lateral excitatory connections were selectively (instead of “diffusively”) made, hyperpolarization in ongoing membrane potential occurred and thus the reaction speed was decelerated. We suggest that the local intracortical circuitry with diffusive connections between cell assemblies might endow the network with an ongoing subthreshold neuronal state, by which it can send the information about combinations of elemental features rapidly to higher cortical stages for their full and precise analyses.