Symmetry and its role in the crossmodal correspondence between shape and taste

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Despite the rapid growth of research on the crossmodal correspondence between visually presented shapes and basic tastes (e.g., sweet, sour, bitter, and...     

Balance,Proprioception, and Gross Motor Development of Chinese Children Aged 3 to 6 Years

The authors' aim was to find the features of balance, proprioception, and gross motor development of Chinese children 3–6 years old and their correlations, provide theoretical support for promoting children's motor development, and enrich the world theoretical system of motor development. This study used a Tekscan foot pressure measurement instrument (Tekscan, Inc., Boston, MA), walking on a balance beam, Xsens 3-dimensional positional measuring system (Xsens Technologies, Enschede, the Netherlands), and Test of Gross Motor Development-2 to assess static balance, dynamic balance, knee proprioception, and levels of gross motor development (GMD) of 3- to 6-year-old children (n = 60) in Beijing. The results are as follows: children had significant age differences in static balance, dynamic balance, proprioception, and levels of GMD; children had significant gender differences in static balance, proprioception, and levels of GMD; children's static balance, dynamic balance, and proprioception had a very significant positive correlation with GMD (p < .01), but no significant correlation with body mass index.     

Are Decisions Made by Group Representatives More Risk Averse? The Effect of Sense of Responsibility

We tested the hypothesis that a sense of responsibility drives group representatives' decisions to be more risk averse compared with decisions made by individuals. The hypothesis was supported when the monetary considerations (i.e., payoff inequality and the magnitude effect) were controlled for in the potential gain domain as well as in the potential loss domain. Evidence showed that this is because the group representatives were concerned about how they would view themselves (e.g., guilt and self‐blame) and also how they would be viewed by others (i.e., to avoid being blamed and looked down upon by others). This study provided new insights into understanding group representatives' decision making under risk. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Excitatory and inhibitory priming by attended and ignored non-recycled words with monolinguals and bilinguals

Experiments examining identity priming from attended and ignored novel words (words that are used only once except when repetition is required due to experimental manipulation) in a lexical decision task are reported. Experiment 1 tested English monolinguals whereas Experiment 2 tested Twi (a native language of Ghana, Africa)-English bilinguals. Participants were presented with sequential pairs of stimuli composed of a prime followed by a probe, with each containing two items. The participants were required to name the target word in the prime display, and to make a lexical decision to the target item in the probe display. On attended repetition (AR) trials the probe target item was identical to the target word on the preceding attentional display. On ignored repetition (IR) trials the probe target item was the same as the distractor word in the preceding attentional display. The experiments produced facilitated (positive) priming in the AR trials and delayed (negative) priming in the IR trials. Significantly, the positive and negative priming effects also replicated across both monolingual and bilingual groups of participants, despite the fact that the bilinguals were responding to the task in their non-dominant language.     

Both Earlier Times and the Future Are “Front”: The Distinction Between Time‐ and Ego‐Reference‐Points in Mandarin Speakers’ Temporal Representation

Mandarin speakers, like most other language speakers around the world, use spatial terms to talk about time. However, the direction of their mental temporal representation along the front‐back axis remains controversial because they use the spatial term “front” to refer to both earlier times (e.g., front‐year means “the year before last”) and the future (e.g., front‐road means “prospect”). Although the linguistic distinction between time‐ and ego‐reference‐point spatiotemporal metaphors in Mandarin suggests a promising clarification of the above controversy, there is little empirical evidence verifying this distinction. In this study, Mandarin speakers’ time‐ and ego‐reference‐point temporal representations on three axes (i.e., sagittal, lateral, and vertical) were separately examined through two tasks. In a time‐reference‐point task, Mandarin speakers judged whether the time point of the second picture was earlier or later than the time point of the first picture, while in an ego‐reference‐point task, they judged whether an event or phase had happened in the past or would happen in the future. The results indicate that Mandarin speakers construe an earlier‐times‐in‐front‐of‐later‐times temporal sequence and adopt the front‐to‐the‐future orientation.     

Testosterone and Proactive-Reactive Aggression in Youth: the Moderating Role of Harsh Discipline

This study tests a biosocial model of the link between testosterone and proactive-reactive aggression in youth at varying levels of harsh discipline. Given that proactive aggression is used to gain power and status and the importance of social learning in its formation, we hypothesized that testosterone would be associated with proactive aggression at higher levels of harsh discipline, and that this relationship would be more pronounced in boys than girls. Participants (n?=?445; 50% male; M age?=?11.92 years; 80% African-American) and their caregivers completed questionnaires including demographics, conflict tactics, and proactive-reactive aggression. Youth also provided a saliva sample for testosterone. Analyses revealed an interaction between testosterone and harsh discipline on proactive aggression in both boys and girls, and an interaction between testosterone and harsh discipline on reactive aggression in boys only. For those experiencing high levels of harsh discipline, testosterone was positively associated with proactive aggression, with the magnitude of the association increasing as harsh discipline increased. For below average levels of harsh discipline, there were protective effects of high testosterone for boy’s reactive aggression and for girl’s proactive aggression. The findings support basic tenets of the biosocial model which suggest that links between testosterone and aggressive behavior are dependent on contextual forces, highlighting the complex relationship between hormones, social context, and aggression. Novel findings include protective effects of high testosterone for those exposed to low levels of harsh discipline. Findings are discussed in light of the context-contingency effect and also within the differential susceptibility framework.     

Time–Frequency Cross Mutual Information Analysis of the Brain Functional Networks Underlying Multiclass Motor Imagery

To study the physiologic mechanism of the brain during different motor imagery (MI) tasks, the authors employed a method of brain-network modeling based on time–frequency cross mutual information obtained from 4-class (left hand, right hand, feet, and tongue) MI tasks recorded as brain–computer interface (BCI) electroencephalography data. The authors explored the brain network revealed by these MI tasks using statistical analysis and the analysis of topologic characteristics, and observed significant differences in the reaction level, reaction time, and activated target during 4-class MI tasks. There was a great difference in the reaction level between the execution and resting states during different tasks: the reaction level of the left-hand MI task was the greatest, followed by that of the right-hand, feet, and tongue MI tasks. The reaction time required to perform the tasks also differed: during the left-hand and right-hand MI tasks, the brain networks of subjects reacted promptly and strongly, but there was a delay during the feet and tongue MI task. Statistical analysis and the analysis of network topology revealed the target regions of the brain network during different MI processes. In conclusion, our findings suggest a new way to explain the neural mechanism behind MI.     

延迟间隔和提取条件对短时错误记忆的影响

采用短时DRM迫选任务,探讨提取条件和延迟间隔对短时错误记忆的影响,以进一步考察短时错误记忆的产生机制。结果发现,短时错误记忆的产生主要源于提取时对存贮细节通达的缺失。在无有效提取线索的条件下,延迟间隔能够增加错误记忆率;而有效提取线索存在时,真实记忆痕迹的可通达性增加能够极大避免错误记忆的产生,延迟间隔的作用则不显著。该实验的结果是对错误记忆理论解释的一种补充。     

Counterfactual comparison modulates fairness consideration in the mini‐ultimatum game: An event‐related potentials study

Existing literature on the mini‐ultimatum game indicates that counterfactual comparison between chosen and unchosen alternatives is of great importance for individual's fairness consideration. However, it is still unclear how counterfactual comparison influences the electrophysiological responses to unfair chosen offers. In conjunction with event‐related potentials’ (ERPs) technique, the current study aimed to explore the issue by employing a modified version of the mini‐ultimatum game where a fixed set of two alternatives (unfair offer vs. fair alternative, unfair vs. hyperfair alternative, unfair offer vs. hyperunfair alternative) was presented before the chosen offer. The behavioral results showed that participants were more likely to accept unfair chosen offers when the unchosen alternative was hyperunfair than when the unchosen alternative was fair or hyperfair. The ERPs results showed that the feedback‐related negativity (FRN) elicited by unfair chosen offers was insensitive to the type of unchosen alternative when correcting for possible overlap with other components. In contrast, unfair chosen offers elicited larger P300 amplitudes when the unchosen alternative was hyperunfair than when the unchosen alternative was fair or hyperfair. These findings suggest that counterfactual comparison may take effect at later stages of fairness consideration as reflected by the P300.