Two faces,two languages: An fMRI study of bilingual picture naming

This fMRI study explores how nonlinguistic cues modulate lexical activation in the bilingual brain. We examined the influence of face race on bilingual language production in a picture-naming paradigm. Chinese–English bilinguals were presented with pictures of objects and images of faces (Asian or Caucasian). Participants named the picture in their first or second language (Chinese or English) in separate blocks. Face race and naming language were either congruent (e.g., naming in Chinese when seeing an Asian face) or incongruent (e.g., naming in English when seeing an Asian face). Our results revealed that face cues facilitate naming when the socio-cultural identity of the face is congruent with the naming language. The congruence effects are reflected as effective integration of lexical and facial cues in key brain regions including IFG, MFG, ACC, and caudate. Implications of the findings in light of theories of language processing and cultural priming are discussed.     

What’s in a name? Subliminally activating trusting behavior

Because the choice to trust is inherently risky, people naturally assess others’ trustworthiness before they engage in trusting actions. The research reported here suggests that the trust development process may start before the conscious assessment of trustworthiness, via the activation of a relational schema. We present three experiments that examined the automatic, non-conscious activation of interpersonal trusting behavior via a variety of subliminal cues: positive or negative, relational or non-relational, and trust-related or not. In all three studies, subliminal relational cues influenced subsequent trusting behavior, apparently without conscious awareness. Results from the third study also indicated that subliminal relational cues that were specifically trust-related influenced trustors’ expectations of the likelihood of reciprocity. Overall, the data provide initial evidence that the development of interpersonal trust can start before and beneath conscious awareness.     

Will the most informative object stand? Determining the impact of structural context on informativeness judgements

A fundamental unsolved problem in the cognitive sciences concerns why, how, and to what extent humans judge object stimuli as conveying different amounts of information. Central to this problem is how the notion of informativeness is conceptualised by humans in the first place. In this paper, we investigate this question from the standpoint of how the structure of categories of objects influences informativeness judgements about their members. Results from our two experiments show that the structural or relational context surrounding single-object cues from a categorical stimulus largely determines such informativeness judgements. Moreover, we found that object cues elicit absolute magnitude judgements about their associated concept that are not consistent with the prototype interpretation of the concept. We were able to account for over 90% of the variance in the data from our two judgement experiments with a general theory and measure of information referred to as Representational Information.     

Visual orienting in response to attentional cues: Spatial correspondence is critical,conscious awareness is not

Three experiments examined visual orienting in response to spatial precues. In Experiments 1 and 2, attentional effects of central letters were stimulus driven: Orienting was dependent on the spatial layout of the cue display. When there were no correspondences between spatial features of the cue display and target location, attentional effects were absent, despite a conscious intention to orient in response to the symbolic information carried by the cue letters. In Experiment 3 clear orienting effects were observed when target location corresponded with spatial features of the cue display, but the magnitude of these effects was unaffected by whether participants were aware or unaware of the cue–target relationship. These findings are consistent with the view that (1) spatial correspondences between cues and targets are a critical factor driving visual orienting in cueing paradigms, and (2) attentional effects of spatial precues are largely independent of participants’ conscious awareness of the cue–target relationship.     

A new form of human spatial attention: Automated symbolic orienting

The control of human attention is typically conceptualized either in terms of exogenous automatic processes that are driven by external sensory stimulation or endogenous strategic processes that are driven by internal expectancies about events in the environment. However, this classic dichotomy has struggled to explain a wealth of new data demonstrating that behaviourally and biologically relevant visual stimuli, like arrow and eye direction, elicit shifts of spatial attention that on the one hand, appear exogenous, and on the other hand, endogenous. To address this issue, we used a double-cueing task that combined arrows with classic cues known to invoke either exogenous or endogenous orienting. Our data suggest that behaviourally relevant directional cues, like arrows, engage a new form of cortically mediated orienting—automated symbolic orienting—that operates independent of, and in parallel with, the two classic forms of exogenous and endogenous spatial attention.     

Smile when you say that: Effects of willingness on dispositional inferences

A large body of research has investigated how perceivers integrate a target’s behavior with information about situational forces. However, little research has investigated how the willingness with which a behavior is performed affects inferences. Two experiments examined the effect of behavioral willingness on dispositional inferences. In experiment 1, a target’s willingness to help had a strong effect on inferences. In experiment 2, effects of willingness were even stronger under cognitive load. Implications are discussed.     

Discrimination of faces and houses by rhesus monkeys: the role of stimulus expertise and rotation angle

The face inversion effect, or impaired recognition of upside down compared to upright faces, is used as a marker for the configural processing of faces in primates. The inversion effect in humans and chimpanzees is strongest for categories of stimuli for which subjects have considerable expertise, primarily conspecifics’ faces. Moreover, discrimination performance decreases linearly as faces are incrementally rotated from upright to inverted. This suggests that rotated faces must be transformed, or normalized back into their most typical viewpoint before configural processing can ensue, and the greater the required normalization, the greater the likelihood of errors resulting. Previous studies in our lab have demonstrated a general face inversion effect in rhesus monkeys that was not influenced by expertise. Therefore, the present study examined the influence of rotation angle on the visual perception of face and nonface stimuli that varied in their level of expertise to further delineate the processes underlying the inversion effect in rhesus monkeys. Five subjects discriminated images in five orientation angles. Results showed significant linear impairments for all stimulus categories, including houses. However, compared to the upright images, only rhesus faces resulted in worse performance at rotation angles greater than 45°, suggesting stronger configural processing for stimuli for which subjects had the greatest expertise.     

即刻学习判断的系列位置效应：内外部线索的影响

为了检验即刻学习判断对内外部线索的敏感性,实验一被试为22名高中生,材料为三列含15个词语的清单,先逐个呈现词语系列位置信息,被试在学习前进行即刻学习判断,结果发现学习判断有显著首因效应,表明学习判断对系列位置信息这一外部线索比较敏感。实验二被试为20名高中生,先逐个呈现词语系列位置信息,被试在学习后进行即刻学习判断,结果发现学习判断同样有显著首因效应,表明学习判断对内部线索的敏感性并未强于外部线索。     

说谎的非言语视觉线索

说谎是一种非常普遍的社会现象。及时有效地识别说谎, 在人际交往和司法安防领域都具有十分重要的意义。根据说谎的自主性, 将说谎研究的实验范式分为被动说谎范式、主动说谎范式和混合说谎范式三大类。个体说谎时具有较高的认知负荷、较强的情绪唤醒和刻意的自我控制等心理活动特点, 这些心理活动会导致眼睛运动、面部表情、姿态动作等非言语视觉线索的变化, 且非言语视觉线索存在个体差异。未来研究应深入考察说谎的内在心理机制以及非言语视觉线索的心理意义, 加强真实情境下说谎行为的研究, 并借助新技术实现对非言语视觉线索的精准测量和分析。     

DRM范式下心境一致性错误记忆的认知机制

本研究以自编情绪DRM词表为实验材料, 用音乐诱发正常大学生被试正性、负性和中性心境, 探讨在被试处于某种心境下时是否产生心境一致性错误记忆现象、预警能否减少心境一致性错误记忆的发生。结果表明, 正性关键诱饵在正性心境下的错误再认率显著高于中性和负性心境, 负性关键诱饵在负性心境下的错误再认率显著高于中性和正性心境, 说明正常被试也会产生心境一致性错误记忆; 预警和无预警条件下被试对关键诱饵和心境一致性关键诱饵的错误再认率无显著差异, 说明外显的预警提示并不能消除部分由无意识产生的错误记忆和心境一致性错误记忆。研究结果支持记忆的扩散激活理论和情感的联想网络理论。