Immediate effects of form-class constraints on spoken word recognition

In many domains of cognitive processing there is strong support for bottom-up priority and delayed top-down (contextual) integration. We ask whether this applies to supra-lexical context that could potentially constrain lexical access. Previous findings of early context integration in word recognition have typically used constraints that can be linked to pair-wise conceptual relations between words. Using an artificial lexicon, we found immediate integration of syntactic expectations based on pragmatic constraints linked to syntactic categories rather than words: phonologically similar "nouns" and "adjectives" did not compete when a combination of syntactic and visual information strongly predicted form class. These results suggest that predictive context is integrated continuously, and that previous findings supporting delayed context integration stem from weak contexts rather than delayed integration.     

Tight and loose are not created equal: An asymmetry underlying the representation of fit in English- and Korean-speakers

Research concerning the spatial dimension fit (tight versus loose) has been based on a tacit but untested assumption that the dimension fit is symmetrical, with tight- and loose-fitting relations highlighting the dimension fit with equal force. We propose a reformulation, documenting that adult speakers of English (Experiment 1) and Korean (Experiment 2) are sensitive to the dimension fit, but that their representation is asymmetric, with tight-fitting events highlighting fit with greater force than loose-fitting events. We propose that sensitivity to the dimension fit is more resilient than has previously been suggested, and that the asymmetry documented here provides a foundation upon which to pursue nuanced questions about the relationship between language and our underlying representations of space.     

Children's understanding of directed motion events in an imitation choice task

We investigated children’s understanding of directed motion events using an imitation choice paradigm. A total of 34 children (mean age 33 months) watched a model act out an event containing a manner of motion (hopping or sliding), a motion path (up or down a ramp), and a goal (in or on a bowl). On the children’s apparatus, the locations of the goal objects were different from the model so that the children needed to choose whether to imitate the path or the goal of the model’s event. Children’s choice of which component to imitate, therefore, reflects how they prioritize these event components. Most children showed no bias to imitate the goal of the event and, instead, preferred to imitate the model’s path at the expense of the model’s goal. However, children who spontaneously played with the goal objects during a free play session showed a diminished path preference, choosing to imitate path and goal components equally often. We suggest that children’s prioritization of information within an event depends on how that information is structured within the event itself.     

Kantian non-conceptualism

There are perceptual states whose representational content cannot even in principle be conceptual. If that claim is true, then at least some perceptual states have content whose semantic structure and psychological function are essentially distinct from the structure and function of conceptual content. Furthermore the intrinsically “orientable” spatial character of essentially non-conceptual content entails not only that all perceptual states contain non-conceptual content in this essentially distinct sense, but also that consciousness goes all the way down into so-called unconscious or subpersonal mental states. Both my argument for the existence of essentially non-conceptual content and my theory of its structure and function have a Kantian provenance.

Before Reproduction: The Distortion of Generation

Jean Baudrillard has posited a theory of ‘the precession of simulacra’, arguing that it is no longer possible to tell the difference between an image and the meaning it purports to represent because technology allows the image to precede its meaning. Christa Wolf, while researching Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays (1984), traveled to Greece and discovered the ways in which language in the rational, Western model of civilization has been distorted. Both Baudrillard and Wolf are disturbed by the ways in which sign systems can be manipulated and generated, and both demonstrate the effect this has in the political and cultural arenas. This analysis intends to show how Baudrillard’s theories play out in Wolf’s narrative, and how Wolf resolves the problems thus posed through the shock of the aesthetic experience, which forces communication while it defies representation.

时距估计中的锚定效应

采用两种时距估计方法,检验时距锚定值对时距估计的影响,并探讨了时距信息的心理表征方式。63名在校大学生参加了本次实验。实验1采用口头报告法,表明较大的时距锚定值（5s,5000ms）条件下,被试估对时距的估计值较大,而较小时距锚定值（1s,1000ms）条件下被试估计的时距值较小;语义相同但表述方式不同的锚定值（1s与1000ms,5s与5000ms）条件下的时距估计值没有显著差异。实验2采用产生法,进一步表明时距表述方式对产生时距没有显著影响。以上结果表明,时距估计受时距锚定值的影响,时距信息可能以语义形式进行表征,而不是简单的数字加单位的表层表征形式     

几何模块论的局限性——来自梯形实验的证据

以往研究表明幼儿主要依赖几何信息进行再定向,但这些研究大多使用矩形空间。在本研究中,幼儿所处的空间为几何信息更丰富,目标物体所在位置确定的梯形。结果发现,幼儿并不会利用新增的几何信息确定目标物体,仍然去正确位置的对角寻找,表现出的寻找模式与矩形空间一样,这说明幼儿在空间再定向任务中对几何信息的利用很有限。此外,录像分析的结果发现,幼儿在面向梯形两底边时会更多地且径直地走向正确位置或对角,这种寻找过程上的特点表明他们可能基于空间轴朝向结合左右方位感表征物体位置     

The Representation of Action: Insights From Bimanual Coordination

ABSTRACT— The motor-program concept, emphasizing how actions are represented in the brain, helped bring the study of motor control into the realm of cognitive psychology. However, interest in representational issues was in limbo for much of the past 30 years, during which time the focus was on biomechanical and abstract accounts of the constraints underlying coordinated movement. We review recent behavioral and neuroscientific evidence that highlights multiple levels of constraints in bimanual coordination, with an emphasis on work demonstrating that a primary source of constraint arises from the manner in which action goals are represented.     

Types of body representation and the sense of embodiment

The sense of embodiment is vital for self recognition. An examination of anosognosia for hemiplegia—the inability to recognise that one is paralysed down one side of one’s body—suggests the existence of ‘online’ and ‘offline’ representations of the body. Online representations of the body are representations of the body as it is currently, are newly constructed moment by moment and are directly “plugged into” current perception of the body. In contrast, offline representations of the body are representations of what the body is usually like, are relatively stable and are constructed from online representations. This distinction is supported by an analysis of phantom limb—the feeling that an amputated limb is still present—phenomena. Initially it seems that the sense of embodiment may arise from either of these types of representation; however, an integrated representation of the body seems to be required. It is suggested information from vision and emotions is involved in generating these representations. A lack of access to online representations of the body does not necessarily lead to a loss in the sense of embodiment. An integrated offline representation of the body could account for the sense of embodiment and perform the functions attributed to this sense.     

不同类别学习方式的对比研究

55名被试被随机分配到两个组,分别通过分类学习与推理学习来学习两个类别,之后,两组被试对新的测试项目进行典型性评定,考察类别学习方式对类别表征的影响。研究结果表明,分类学习者仅仅依据项目的诊断性程度来评定,而推理学习者主要依据项目的典型性程度来评定。所以,诊断性信息在分类学习者的类别表征中占有重要位置,典型性信息在推理学习者的类别表征中占有重要位置,即分类学习与推理学习导致的类别表征不同。