Nonselective access of English phonology in bi-scriptal Chinese–Korean visual word recognition

This study investigated the phonological processes with bilingual readers of Korean and Chinese. Three types of same–different matching between the prime and target were compared. The critical point was on whether the phonological information of English was activated automatically in a semantic judgment task involving only Korean and Chinese. The results showed that the latency of the conditions (S+P?, S?P? and S?P+) was significantly different; latencies in the S?P+ condition where there is no semantic but with phonological relations were slower than in the S?P? condition where there are neither semantic nor phonological relations. The implication for phonological recoding was discussed.     

Verifying properties of concepts spontaneously requires sharing resources with same-modality percept

In the present experiments, participants had to verify properties of concepts but, depending on the trial condition, concept-property pairs were presented via headphones or on the screen. The results showed that participants took longer and were less accurate at verifying conceptual properties when the channel used to present the CONCEPT-property pair and the type of property matched in sensory modality (e.g., LEMON-yellow on screen; BLENDER-loud in headphones) compared to when properties and channel did not match (e.g., LEMON-yellow in headphones; BLENDER-loud on screen). Such interference is consistent with theories of embodied cognition holding that knowledge is grounded in modality-specific systems (Barsalou in Behav Brain Sci 22:577–660, 1999). When the resources of one modality are burdened during the task, processing costs are incurred in a conceptual task (Vermeulen et al. in Cognition 109:287–294, 2008).     

Objective assessment of the functional role of spike train correlations using information measures

The functional role of correlations between neuronal spike trains remains strongly debated. This debate partly stems from the lack of a standardized analysis technique capable of accurately quantifying the role of correlations in stimulus encoding. We believe that information theoretic measures may represent an objective method for analysing the functional role of neuronal correlations. Here we show that information analysis of pairs of spike trains allows the information content present in the firing rate to be disambiguated from any extra information that may be present in the temporal relationships of the two spike trains. We validate and illustrate the method by applying it to simulated data with variable degrees of known synchrony, and by applying it to recordings from pairs of sites in the primary visual cortex of anaesthetized cats. We discuss the importance of information theoretic analysis in elucidating the neuronal mechanisms underlying object identification.     

Masked-target recovery requires focused attention on the target object

Flashing a homogeneous light mask after the presentation of a masked target reduces the deleterious effects of the mask, a phenomenon often called target recovery. Target recovery has been studied using masking paradigms in which a target object is presented in isolation prior to the presentation of a mask, thus capturing attention. In the present study, we examined whether target recovery is possible when a target does not benefit from attentional capture. We hypothesized that target recovery would be eliminated when a target must compete with distractors for perceptual attention. Replicating classic studies, we observed target recovery when pattern and light masks followed an isolated target. However, target recovery was not observed when a light mask followed a masked visual search target. Furthermore, using an attentional-capture paradigm we found that sudden onset search targets were recoverable whereas nononset targets were not. The present findings indicate that attentional capture by a target prior to masking plays a critical role in the subsequent recovery of the target.     

Role salience and support as moderators of demand/conflict relationships in China

This study examined the effects of role demand on both work–family conflict and family–work conflict, and the moderating effects of role salience and support on these relationships. Based on 391 dual-career (managerial and blue-collar employees) couples from a Taiwanese company in China, the results of this survey study showed clear gender differences in the patterns of relationships observed. For men, the most important demands that negatively impacted on work–family conflict were frequency of overtime and frequency of socializing for work purposes (yingchou), and supervisory support buffered the negative impact of frequent overtime. For women however, strong supervisory support and low work role salience were more important for reducing work–family conflict, and there was no significant main effect found for any of the role demand factors. Furthermore, women with high work role salience were more likely to feel the impact of yingchou on work–family conflict. In the family domain, the most influential demand for men was hours spent on household tasks, but for women, it was the frequency of family-related leave. Interestingly, males reported higher family role salience than females and spouse support intensified rather than buffered the positive impact of hours spent on household tasks on family–work conflict for males.     

Exercise type relates to inhibitory and error processing functions in older adults

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the association between exercise type and inhibition of prepotent responses and error detection. Totally, 75 adults (M = 68.88 years) were classified into one of three exercise groups: those who were regular participants in open- or closed-skill forms of exercise, and those who exercised only irregularly. The participants completed a Stroop and task-switching tasks with event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded. The results revealed that regular exercisers displayed faster reaction times (RTs) in the Stroop task compared with irregular exercisers. The open-skill exercisers exhibited smaller N200 and larger P300a amplitudes in the Stroop task compared with irregular exercisers. Furthermore, the open-skill exercisers showed a tendency of shorter error-related negativity latencies at the task-witching test. The findings suggest that older adults may gain extra cognitive benefits in areas such as inhibition functioning and error processing from participating in open-skill forms of physical exercises.     

The Psychological Displacement Paradigm in Diary-Writing (PDPD) and its Psychological Benefits

The present study aimed to investigate the psychological displacement paradigm in diary-writing (PDPD) had both immediate and short-term psychological benefits. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their recent negative life experiences two times a week for 2 weeks in PDPD group or comparison group. Results revealed that the PDPD group displayed a decrease in negative emotion and an increase in positive emotion immediately after each writing session; they also showed an increase in psychological well-being relative to the comparison group for at least 2 weeks. Implications for PDPD are discussed.     

家庭功能与大学生情绪表达性、孤独感的关系

通过问卷调查法和结构方程模型分析技术,探讨家庭功能与大学生情绪表达性、孤独感之间的关系,以及家庭功能的作用机制,即家庭功能能否通过情绪表达影响大学生孤独感。结果发现:(1)家庭功能对大学生情绪表达性、孤独感有显著预测作用,家庭亲密度或适应性水平高的大学生更倾向具有高的情绪表达性,更少的体验到亲情、爱情以及社交孤独感;(2)情绪表达性对大学生社交孤独感具有一定的预测作用,即大学生越乐于表达情绪,其社交孤独感就越少;(3)家庭功能既直接对社交孤独感产生影响,又通过情绪表达性间接影响社交孤独感,即情绪表达性在家庭功能与社交孤独感之间起部分中介作用。     

‘The Ostrich Problem’: Motivated Avoidance or Rejection of Information About Goal Progress

Monitoring one's current standing with respect to goals can promote effective self‐regulation. However, the present review suggests that there is an ostrich problem such that, in many instances, people have a tendency to “bury their head in the sand” and intentionally avoid or reject information that would help them to monitor their goal progress. For example, people with diabetes avoid monitoring their blood glucose, and few people monitor their household energy consumption, check their bank balances, keep track of what they are eating and so on. While situational constraints can explain some problems with progress monitoring, we use a self‐motives framework to posit that the decision to avoid monitoring often represents the product of an interaction between different motives. For example, the desire to accurately assess progress may conflict with the desire to protect or enhance the self. The present review collates evidence pertaining to the ostrich problem, identifies different motives that underlie the decision to monitor versus not monitor goal progress, illustrates how the ostrich problem might be integrated into models of self‐regulation, and provides suggestions for future research. In so doing, the review advances our understanding of the nature and determinants of intentionally deficient monitoring.