Extraversion and the orienting reaction habituation rate to visual stimuli

Eysenck's (1967) proposal that introversion is characterized by increased levels of activity in the cortico-reticular loop was treated in a series of experiments which compared high, middle, and low extraversion groups on the basis of OR habituation rate to visual stimulation. Generally, introverts were observed to have longer OR habituation rates to chromatic and word stimulation than extraverts as evidenced by cardiac, electrodermal, and vasomotor indices of habituation rate, a result which endorses Eysenck's hypothesis. Results are also discussed from the standpoint of individual differences in autonomic response.     

Young children's storage behavior in a memory-for-location task

Two experiments concerned with children's intentional preparation for future retrieval in a memory-for-location task are presented. In the first experiment, 3-, 5-, 7-, and 9-year-olds were instructed to store and subsequently retrieve an object on a large spatial display. All age groups, except the 3-year-olds, tended to store the object at distinctive locations and their retrieval performance was facilitated accordingly. The four age groups did not differ in the types of selections made in a nonmemory control task. The second experiment dealt with the effects of feedback and informational factors on strategy acquisition. Preschoolers were given experience at retrieving the object from distinctive and nondistinctive positions on the stimulus display. Later, when instructed to store the object by themselves, older preschoolers produced the distinctive-position storage strategy following a feedback procedure in which they directly observed the consequences of their retrieval selections. The strategy was adopted by younger preschoolers, but only when additional strategy and task information accompanied visual feedback. The use of external memory tasks with young children and factors affecting strategy acquisition and utilization are discussed.     

Remembrance of places lasts: Proactive inhibition and patterns of choice in rat spatial memory

A series of experiments was carried out to evaluate the notion that rats given a sequence of massed daily trials on the radial maze reset working memory at the end of each trial by deleting its contents. Although curves presented by D. S. Olton [Scientific American, 1977, 236, 82–98; In S. H. Hulse, H. Fowler, & W. K. Honig (Eds.), Cognitive processes in animal behavior, Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1978] show that rats return to errorless performance at the beginning of each trial after the first, the fact that accuracy falls less rapidly over choices on Trial 1 than on subsequent trials suggests a proactive inhibition (PI) effect. In Experiment 1, Olton's findings were replicated, and a PI effect was observed on Days 1–2 of testing. On Days 3–5, overall accuracy improved significantly and was associated with the development of a strong tendency for rats to enter adjacent alleys, which became particularly marked on the final trials of a day's testing. In order to prevent rats from achieving accurate performance by using an adjacent alleys pattern, a procedure was used in Experiment 2 which involved initial forced random choices followed by a retention test consisting of free choices. Repeated daily trials with this procedure yielded a significant PI effect, which was more marked at a 60-sec delay than at a 0-sec delay. Experiments 3 and 4 showed this PI effect to be robust and resistant to manipulations designed to produce release from PI. Both the PI effect and a strong tendency found in Experiment 1 for animals to avoid on the initial choices of Trial n those alleys most recently entered on Trial n?1 argue that rats do not reset working memory between trials.     

The effects of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards in a risk-taking situation

This study varied both the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards associated with performing a task in a risk taking situation. When the task performed to win a prize provided little if any intrinsic reward, subjects liked and tried for prizes that were easy to obtain. In contrast, when the task was intrinsically rewarding, subjects liked and tried for those prizes that were somewhat more difficult to obtain. In addition, subjects were more likely to like and try for prizes easier to obtain when the extrinsic reward was high.     

The Adaptive Logic of Compatibility

This paper describes the adaptive logic of compatibility and its dynamic proof theory. The results derive from insights in inconsistency-adaptive logic, but are themselves very simple and philosophically unobjectionable. In the absence of a positive test, dynamic proof theories lead, in the long run, to correct results and, in the short run, sometimes to final decisions but always to sensible estimates. The paper contains a new and natural kind of semantics for S5from which it follows that a specific subset of the standard worlds-models is characteristic for S5.     

音乐训练对4~5岁幼儿普通话声调范畴感知能力的影响

已有研究表明, 音乐训练能提高成人对普通话声调范畴感知的能力, 此种训练能否增强幼儿对声调范畴感知的能力?训练效果是否受到训练时间长短的影响?本研究对幼儿园4~5岁幼儿进行音乐训练, 共40人, 分成音乐组和控制组, 每组各20人, 追踪考察音乐训练和训练时间长短对幼儿声调范畴感知能力提升的影响。实验采用前测-中测-后测设计, 对音乐组开展每周3次, 每次30分钟, 以小钟琴演奏为主的音乐训练; 控制组不进行任何有组织的训练活动。结果发现, 12个月音乐训练提升了幼儿对声调范畴感知的程度, 表现为音乐组幼儿范畴边界宽度显著小于控制组, 而训练6个月时, 该优势并不显著。此外, 12个月音乐训练还加强了幼儿区分范畴内刺激声学差异的敏感性, 而对范畴间刺激的区分能力无显著提高。本研究结果支持了音乐学习的歌剧理论(OPERA), 音乐训练具有跨域迁移作用, 可提升4~5岁幼儿对普通话声调范畴感知的能力, 但只有长期持续的训练才可能真正提高幼儿的音高精细化加工水平。     

父母教养与MAOA基因rs6323多态性对学前儿童外化问题的共同作用

采用G×E交互作用的研究范式,以295名学前儿童（M=4.49）和其母亲、父亲作为研究对象,探讨母亲和父亲的教养方式与MAOA基因rs6323多态性对学前儿童外化问题行为的影响。结果发现：母亲、父亲教养方式和MAOA基因多态性对学前儿童外化问题行为的影响存在性别差异,预测男孩外化问题行为时,母亲和父亲教养方式的主效应显著,与MAOA基因多态性的交互作用不显著;在预测女孩外化问题行为时,父亲教养方式的主效应显著,母亲教养方式与MAOA基因多态性的交互作用显著,显著性区域分析发现,携带T等位基因的女孩更容易受到母亲消极教养的不利影响而产生更多外化问题行为,也更容易受到其积极教养的有利影响而减少外化问题行为,这一结果支持差别易感性理论模型。