A second type of magnitude effect: Reinforcer magnitude differentiates delay discounting between substance users and controls

Basic research on delay discounting, examining preference for smaller–sooner or larger–later reinforcers, has demonstrated a variety of findings of considerable generality. One of these, the magnitude effect, is the observation that individuals tend to exhibit greater preference for the immediate with smaller magnitude reinforcers. Delay discounting has also proved to be a useful marker of addiction, as demonstrated by the highly replicated finding of greater discounting rates in substance users compared to controls. However, some research on delay discounting rates in substance users, particularly research examining discounting of small‐magnitude reinforcers, has not found significant differences compared to controls. Here, we hypothesize that the magnitude effect could produce ceiling effects at small magnitudes, thus obscuring differences in delay discounting between groups. We examined differences in discounting between high‐risk substance users and controls over a broad range of magnitudes of monetary amounts ($0.10, $1.00, $10.00, $100.00, and $1000.00) in 116 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. We found no significant differences in discounting rates between users and controls at the smallest reinforcer magnitudes ($0.10 and $1.00) and further found that differences became more pronounced as magnitudes increased. These results provide an understanding of a second form of the magnitude effect: That is, differences in discounting between populations can become more evident as a function of reinforcer magnitude.     

A social identification approach to the effects of religious disclosures in business communication

This research expands on prior research into the effects of religious disclosures on interpersonal attraction by drawing from social identification theory to explain attributions stemming from religious disclosures in professionals’ e-mail signature blocks. Participants (N = 268) were randomly exposed to one of three experimental conditions (a Christian, Islamic, or secular quotation in a signature block) and completed measures of social identification and perceptions of professionalism. Results indicate that, contrary to prior research, merely disclosing one’s religion does not increase attributions; rather, attributions of a sender’s professionalism are positively derived from the receiver’s social identification with the sender’s religion. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to social identity theory, as well as for professional practice in developing signature blocks as a means of self-presentation.     

More human than others? A critique of Cypryańska et al. (2017)

Cypryańska and colleagues offer a critique of existing work on the self-humanizing effect and present some empirical findings motivated by their critique. In this commentary, I question their overly restrictive understanding of self-humanizing and argue that the phenomenon does not stand or fall on a definition based on a strict analogy to the better-than-average effect. I argue that defining self-humanizing exclusively in these terms is inappropriate: It fails to recognize the relationship between self-humanizing and self-enhancement, as well as the primary role of trait valence in comparative self-ratings. Finally, I observe that Cypryańska et al.’s empirical findings are highly consistent with past work rather than offering the deep challenge that the authors suppose.     

Trouble articulating the right words: Evidence for a response‐exclusion account of distraction during semantic fluency

It is widely held that single‐word lexical access is a competitive process, a view based largely on the observation that naming a picture is slowed in the presence of a distractor‐word. However, problematic for this view is that a low‐frequency distractor‐word slows the naming of a picture more than does a high‐frequency word. This supports an alternative, response‐exclusion, account in which a distractor‐word interferes because it must be excluded from an articulatory output buffer before the right word can be articulated (the picture name): A high, compared to low, frequency word accesses the buffer more quickly and, as such, can also be excluded more quickly. Here we studied the respective roles of competition and response‐exclusion for the first time in the context of semantic verbal fluency, a setting requiring the accessing of, and production of, multiple words from long‐term memory in response to a single semantic cue. We show that disruption to semantic fluency by a sequence of to‐be‐ignored spoken distractors is also greater when those distractors are low in frequency, thereby extending the explanatory compass of the response‐exclusion account to a multiple‐word production setting and casting further doubt on the lexical‐selection‐by‐competition view. The results can be understood as reflecting the contribution of speech output processes to semantic fluency.     

Anticipatory affect during action preparation: evidence from backward compatibility in dual-task performance

Upcoming responses in the second of two subsequently performed tasks can speed up compatible responses in the temporally preceding first task. Two experiments extend previous demonstration of such backward compatibility to affective features: responses to affective stimuli were faster in Task 1 when an affectively compatible response effect was anticipated for Task 2. This emotional backward-compatibility effect demonstrates that representations of the affective consequences of the Task 2 response were activated before the selection of a response in Task 1 was completed. This finding is problematic for the assumption of a serial stimulus-response translation stage. It also shows that the affective consequence of a response is anticipated during, and has an impact on stimulus-response translation, which implies that action planning considers codes representing and predicting the emotional consequences of actions. Implications for the control of emotional actions are discussed.     

网络语言的创造性加工过程:新颖N400与LPC

采用事件相关电位(ERP)技术比较在语义违反范式下网络语言和标准汉语的语义加工差异。结果发现:(1)不管是网络语言还是标准汉语,相对于语义一致条件,语义不一致条件在400 ms诱发了一个更负的负成分,但网络语言的经典N400差异波具有更晚的潜伏期和更长的持续时间;(2)溯源结果发现,网络语言和标准汉语的经典N400差异波的早期和晚期的定位均分别定位于丘脑和前扣带回,表明N400延迟效应是由个体对网络语言相对低的流利度所致,反映了认知冲突的延续;(3)在语义一致性条件下,网络语言比标准汉语诱发了一个更负的新颖N400和一个更正的晚期正成分(LPC),分别定位于前扣带回和海马,二者分别反映了新颖网络含义的识别以及新颖语义信息的整合与新颖语义联结的形成。ERP结果支持了网络语言加工属于创造性思维过程。     

语音反应方式下情绪效价对空间Simon效应的影响

通过3个实验考察语音反应方式下情绪效价对空间Simon效应的影响。实验1采用空间Simon任务范式考察语音反应方式下空间Simon效应的存在;实验2增加刺激的情绪效价维度,采用同样任务考察无关情绪效价对空间Simon效应的影响;实验3在实验2基础上进一步探讨当情绪效价为相关维度时对空间Simon效应的影响。研究结果表明:语音反应方式下,只有当情绪效价为相关维度时,才会对空间Simon效应产生影响,且该影响主要表现在积极效价对认知控制的促进作用而导致空间Simon效应减小或消失,此结果与极性编码一致性假说一致,也拓宽了躯体特异性假说,扩展了以往对情绪影响空间认知的理解。     

路径转弯对语篇空间情境模型建构的影响

采用回指解决方法, 通过3个实验探讨了路径转弯对空间情境模型建构的影响机制。实验1和实验2的结果表明, 读者在建构含有路径转弯的语篇时, 在一定范围内出现了路径转弯效应。总体趋势为当语篇的空间描述简单(转弯次数<2)时, 目标句的阅读时间会随着转弯次数的增多而增长, 但当语篇的空间描述复杂(转弯次数>2)时, 不仅不再出现路径转弯效应, 反而出现了该效应的反转现象。实验3借助眼动仪监测, 运用语篇与主人公行走路线同步动态呈现模式, 让被试实时追随主人公行走路线, 控制转弯次数和路径距离, 以当前位置与回指地点间的直线距离为自变量, 探究读者在空间描述复杂时建构空间情境模型的心理机制。实验结果表明当阅读空间描述简单的语篇时, 读者建构的空间情境模型是路线型的, 通过逆向搜索的方式进行回指解决; 当语篇的空间描述较为复杂时, 读者倾向于建构地图型空间情境模型, 以俯视的视角通过空间搭桥寻找空间最短直线距离进行回指解决。     

表征动量的朝向效应

本研究通过4个实验探索运动物体的朝向对表征动量的影响。4个实验均使用了2(朝向：正向vs.倒向)×2(运动方向：左vs.右/上vs.下)两因素实验设计。前3个实验使用不同的刺激材料进行水平方向的诱导运动, 结果发现, 正向运动的前移量大于倒向运动的前移量, 但这种朝向效应仅仅作用于水平向右方向, 即运动方向水平向左时朝向效应消失。实验4将运动方向改为垂直运动, 结果发现, 正向运动的前移量大于倒向运动的前移量, 但这种朝向效应仅仅作用于垂直向下方向, 即运动方向垂直向上时朝向效应消失。结论：朝向影响表征动量, 但仅作用于水平向右和垂直向下方向上, 前者可能和阅读习惯有关, 后者可能和重力作用有关。     

阈上阈下不同面孔表情下的注视线索提示效应

为考察阈上、阈下不同面孔表情下的注视线索提示效应, 实验以阈上和阈下面孔的不同注视朝向为提示线索, 同时变化面孔表情, 要求被试迅速和准确地对随后出现的靶刺激(大写字母)的呈现位置做出判断。结果显示, 在阈上呈现条件下, 注视线索提示效应显著, 且该效应不受面孔表情的影响。在阈下呈现条件下, 注视线索提示效应显著, 但该效应受到了面孔表情的调节, 表现为在注视线索无效时, 判断目标位置所需反应时在正性、负性面孔表情下显著长于中性面孔条件。上述结果说明, 阈上知觉时, 面孔表情虽被清晰感知, 但个体自上而下的控制机制使其被忽略, 因而未能影响个体的注意偏向; 阈下知觉时, 面孔表情得到自动加工, 并影响了个体的注意偏向。