Use of Anticipatory Cues to Reduce Dependence on Physical Prompts by an Adolescent with Multiple Disabilities

Anticipatory cues (vibratory stimulation activated through remote control) were used in this study to help an adolescent with multiple disabilities to reduce his dependence on the caregiver's physical prompts. The results show that anticipatory cues were effective in helping the adolescent perform practical daily responses independently of physical prompts. Towards the end of the study, the adolescent could also perform increasingly independently of the anticipatory cues. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

From left to right: Processing acronyms referring to names of political parties activates spatial associations

In line with previous studies, showing that abstract concepts like “power” or “god” implicitly activate spatial associations, in the present study we hypothesized that spatial associations are coactivated during the processing of acronyms referring to names of political parties as well. In four studies, it was found that the reading of these acronyms was accompanied by the implicit activation of spatial left–right associations. That is, participants responded faster to left-wing parties by means of a left-hand button press and vice versa for right-wing parties (Experiments 1 to 3), and participants responded faster when a political acronym was presented at the side of the screen corresponding to the political orientation of the acronym (Experiment 4). Interestingly, a correlation was observed between the effect size for left-wing parties and participants' political preferences, suggesting that the reaction time effects reflect the perceived distance of a party to one's own political orientation. Together these findings indicate that spatial representations activated in response to political acronyms do not simply reflect lexical–semantic associations or spatial metaphors, but representations of parties' political orientation relative to one's own sociopolitical position.     

Developing number–space associations: SNARC effects using a color discrimination task in 5-year-olds

Human adults’ numerical representation is spatially oriented; consequently, participants are faster to respond to small/large numerals with their left/right hand, respectively, when doing a binary classification judgment on numbers, known as the SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) effect. Studies on the emergence and development of the SNARC effect remain scarce. The current study introduces an innovative new paradigm based on a simple color judgment of Arabic digits. Using this task, we found a SNARC effect in children as young as 5.5 years. In contrast, when preschool children needed to perform a magnitude judgment task necessitating exact number knowledge, the SNARC effect started to emerge only at 5.8 years. Moreover, the emergence of a magnitude SNARC but not a color SNARC was linked to proficiency with Arabic digits. Our results suggest that access to a spatially oriented approximate magnitude representation from symbolic digits emerges early in ontogenetic development. Exact magnitude judgments, on the other hand, rely on experience with Arabic digits and, thus, necessitate formal or informal schooling to give access to a spatially oriented numerical representation.     

习得性空间联结的迁移依赖于语义工作记忆

采用练习迁移范式与双任务范式相结合的设计来探讨练习所习得的空间联结在工作记忆中如何表征。被试先进行不一致空间的刺激—反应映射练习任务, 五分钟后, 随机迁移到单任务(Simon任务)或者双任务(Simon任务+语义工作记忆负荷任务或空间工作记忆负荷任务)。结果发现：不一致的练习能使单任务出现反转的Simon效应, 但语义工作记忆负荷会使反转的Simon效应消失, 而空间工作记忆负荷却对反转的Simon效应没有影响。实验结果表明练习产生的空间联结依赖于语义工作记忆。     

Asymmetrical attention allocation to dissimilar and similar attitudes

Evaluations of others are sometimes influenced more by their dissimilar than similar attitudes. The authors investigated this similarity–dissimilarity asymmetry at the level of stimulus processing. In a variant of the Stroop task in Experiment 1 (N = 50), dissimilar attitudes of the participants interfered more with their color-naming performance than did similar attitudes. In a dual-task paradigm of Experiment 2 (N = 92), a greater attention allocation to dissimilar than similar attitudes disappeared when the cognitive load was low, but not when it was high. Findings illustrated the similarity–dissimilarity asymmetry at the level of stimulus processing, and presented the asymmetry as another case of the fundamental positive–negative asymmetry. Implications and alternative interpretations of these findings are discussed.     

Implementation of automatic speed enforcement: Covariation with young drivers’ reported speeding behaviour and motivations

IntroductionSpeeding represents one of the main causes of road crashes worldwide, particularly among young drivers who are over-represented in road-crash statistics. For promoting road safety in France, an automatic speed enforcement (ASE) system was introduced late 2002.ObjectiveIn order to examine its efficiency on speeding and its motivations, we compared young drivers’ intentions and beliefs about speeding between the introduction of ASE (T1) and its completion in 2005 (T2) via a large survey based on the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). We assumed the introduction of the ASE would covariate with a reduction in intention to speeding between T1 and T2 and a change in the extended TPB factors according to gender and driving experience.MethodOne thousand one hundred and ninety-two young participants (49.7% men) divided into novice, beginner, and more-experienced drivers filled in a questionnaire based on the extended TPB about their driving behaviour and history at T1 and 24 months later (T2).ResultsMen, beginner and more-experienced drivers expressed more intention to speeding within the next 12 months at T1 and showed a higher decrease in intention between T1 and T2 as compared to women and novice drivers. The extended TPB accounted for 59% of the variance in the decrease of the intention to speeding. Its main predictors were: lower perceived behavioural control over speeding, less social pressure, lower perceived similarity with the prototypical deviant driver, and higher comparative optimism. Secondly, slightly more positive behavioural beliefs and more negative outcome evaluations predicted this decrease.ConclusionPractical implications of the findings for road safety are discussed.     

The effects of total sleep deprivation on semantic priming: Event-related potential evidence for automatic and controlled processing strategies

There is general consensus that performance on a number of cognitive tasks deteriorates following total sleep deprivation. At times, however, subjects manage to maintain performance. This may be because of an ability to switch cognitive strategies including the exertion of compensatory effort. The present study examines the effects of total sleep deprivation on a semantic word priming task. Word priming is unique because it can be carried out using different strategies involving either automatic, effortless or controlled, effortful processing. Twelve subjects were presented with word pairs, a prime and a target, that were either highly semantically associated (cat…dog), weakly associated (cow…barn) or unassociated (apple…road). In order to increase the probability of the use of controlled processing following normal sleep, the subject’s task was to determine if the target word was semantically related to the prime. Furthermore, the time between the offset of the prime and the onset of the target was relatively long, permitting the use of an effortful, expectancy-predictive strategy. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 64 electrode sites. After normal sleep, RTs were faster and accuracy higher to highly associated targets; this performance advantage was also maintained following sleep deprivation. A large negative deflection, the N400, was larger to weakly associated and unassociated targets in both sleep-deprived and normal conditions. The overall N400 was however larger in the normal sleep condition. Moreover, a long-lasting negative slow wave developed between the offset of the prime and the onset of the target. These physiological measures are consistent with the use of an effortful, predictive strategy following normal sleep but an automatic, effortless strategy following total sleep deprivation. A picture priming task was also run. This task benefits less from the use of a predictive strategy. Accordingly, in this task, ERPs following the target did not differ as a function of the amount of sleep.     

Intention,Emotion, and Action: A Neural Theory Based on Semantic Pointers

We propose a unified theory of intentions as neural processes that integrate representations of states of affairs, actions, and emotional evaluation. We show how this theory provides answers to philosophical questions about the concept of intention, psychological questions about human behavior, computational questions about the relations between belief and action, and neuroscientific questions about how the brain produces actions. Our theory of intention ties together biologically plausible mechanisms for belief, planning, and motor control. The computational feasibility of these mechanisms is shown by a model that simulates psychologically important cases of intention.     

视觉搜索中风味引发对关联颜色的注意偏向

人们常将特定的颜色与风味联系起来形成色味联结, 而且颜色线索会影响风味感知, 这体现了视觉信息对味觉信息加工的跨通道影响。本研究通过两个行为实验, 考察了味觉信息是否也会影响视觉搜索。实验任务要求被试品尝饮品后对形状靶子进行视觉搜索, 并且操纵了味觉刺激的提示性以及靶子颜色与风味之间的关联性。实验1的结果表明, 当风味线索提示的靶子颜色是与风味关联的颜色时可以加快视觉搜索。但如果与该风味关联的颜色出现在干扰项上, 风味线索则无法促进视觉搜索。其后, 我们在实验2中排除了语义启动的混淆, 也发现了与实验1一致的结果。本研究的结果表明, 风味线索会引发对关联颜色的注意偏向, 证实了味觉刺激对视觉注意的跨通道影响, 为色味交互提供了新的实验证据, 揭示了跨通道影响可能的发生机制。     

Measuring implicit attitudes toward physical activity and sedentary behaviors: Test-retest reliability of three scoring algorithms of the Implicit Association Test and Single Category-Implicit Association Test

ObjectivesThe Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the Single-Category IAT (SC-IAT) are two frequently used measures of implicit attitudes. Nonetheless, the test-retest reliability of these measures has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability of a physical activity versus sedentary behavior IAT, a physical activity SC-IAT, and a sedentary behavior SC-IAT.MethodA total of 111 older adults living with chronic diseases were recruited. They either completed a physical activity versus sedentary behavior IAT (N = 54) or two independent SC-IATs of physical activity and sedentary behavior (N = 57). These tests were administered twice in a one-hour interval. Three scores were computed for each test (D-Score, DW-Score, IP-Score). Both absolute and relative test-retest reliability was computed.ResultsRegarding absolute reliability, the tests were comparable regardless of the scoring algorithm (Coefficients of Repeatability ranged from 1.27 for the two SC-IATs with the D-Score, to 1.36 for the IAT with the D-Score and DW-Score). Regarding relative test-retest reliability, the IAT systematically showed better reliability than the two SC-IATs. The DW-Score systematically exhibited better reliability compared to other scores (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient ranged from 0.20 for the sedentary behavior SC-IAT with the D-Score to 0.78 for the IAT with the DW-Score).ConclusionAdequate test-retest reliability for the IAT was supported independently from the scoring algorithms. Test-retest reliability for the two independent SC-IATs was not supported in this study. The IAT is more sensitive to change than the SC-IATs, which needs to be accounted for in future research on physical activity and sedentary behavior implicit attitudes.