Perception: The interface between cognition and the external world

In contrast to researchers who emphasize the distinction between perception and cognition it is claimed that the perceptual system is closely intertwined with cognition and with our comprehension of the external world. This claim is supported by evidence for two characteristic features of human information processing. One of these features is the use of mental models. If mental models are assumed to be anchored in the perceptual system it will not be necessary to assume a "little man in the head" who reads off the model. Moreover, perceptually based mental models will provide a referential semantics by anchoring mentally represented concepts in the external world. The other feature is the use of perceptually based perspectives in cognition, such as actor or observer perspectives in social cognition. It is concluded that human beings consistently interact within the real world--also when they are just thinking--and that this becomes possible via perceptual processes.     

Conditions for Piagetian Stage IV search errors in a task using transparent occluders

In a Piagetian Stage IV search task in which the object was in plain view under transparent covers, Butterworth (1977) obtained errors from nearly half the infants but noted few errors when the object was uncovered. This study investigates the possibility that errors arise in the former case because novel transparent covers present a particular distraction. Butterworth's results with transparent covers were replicated under his conditions of administration, but virtually no errors were obtained when infants were familiarized with the covers prior to testing. From this and other results it is suggested that errors in search for a visible object only occur when the infant's attention is drawn by other features of the array.     

数量让位价值：5～10岁儿童公平分配发展的“此消彼长”

操纵资源价值与数量的比例关系,形成互不影响的数量平等与价值平等,考察5～10岁儿童在不同卷入情境中公平分配发展的特点。结果发现：（1）6岁以后儿童公平分配发展存在数量平等“消”和价值平等“长”的特点;（2）与第一方卷入情境相比,在第三方卷入情境中9～10岁儿童公平行为发展存在差异,而公平认知不受卷入情境影响;（3）儿童公平认知发展能正向指导公平行为表现,但会受卷入情境、年龄和性别影响。     

Creativity Booster: How Time versus Money Impacts Creative Performances

Past research shows that time and money, although both scarce resources indispensable in modern societies, tend to exert distinct impacts on interpersonal behaviors. Yet, little is known about the effects of these two resources on intrapersonal cognitive processes, including creative thinking. In the present research, we explored whether and how increasing the saliency of time versus money concept would affect creative thinking. Six experiments provide converging evidence that activating time concept leads to superior creative performance than money concept. Specifically, individuals treated to time priming (versus money priming) were more likely to solve insight problems (Experiments 1a and 1b), to expand boundaries of conceptual categories (Experiment 2), and to identify connections among seemingly unrelated stimuli (Experiments 3a, 3b and 4). Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Experience of Insight Facilitates Long-Term Semantic Priming in the Right Hemisphere

While past research has demonstrated a link between the subjective “Aha” experience of insight and verbal insight problem solution activation in the right hemisphere (RH), no one has yet linked insight to long term semantic priming. We propose that through a shared process of semantic integration both of these concepts are linked and thus the experience of insight should facilitate semantic priming in the RH. Participants attempted to solve a group of compound remote associate problems and afterwards completed a lexical decision task. The results showed that the experience of insight facilitated semantic priming in the RH, but only for unsolved compound remote associate problems. It was also shown that participants who indicated that they generated more solutions through insight that were incorrect demonstrated the most semantic priming in the RH. These results indicate that long-term semantic priming can occur as a result of insight solutions, and that this activation occurs predominantly in the RH. This study extends both the evidence for long-lasting semantic priming as well the theory of coarse semantic coding in the RH.