Perceiving a part and the whole of narrative scenes with interactive processing between character and surroundings

Visual recognition is a fast and accurate process. This study adopted a progressive revelation task which demonstrated the dynamic visual process to investigate narrative scene perception. Experiment 1 examined the recognition of character and surroundings that are presented in isolation. The results demonstrated an accumulation of perceptual evidence for recognition as a psychometric function, and character identification was found to be superior to surroundings identification (character advantage effect). Experiment 2 examined the character and surroundings identification in isolated and concurrent presentations. The results showed that less accumulated evidence was required for the concurrent condition than for the isolated condition in the surroundings identification but not in the character identification. The character advantage effect only appeared in the isolated condition. In Experiment 3, both the character and surroundings in semantically consistent or inconsistent scenes were reported. The results showed that consistency effects appeared in both character and surroundings reporting, and the character advantage effect appeared in both consistent and inconsistent conditions. Overall, the results of the present study, which have high ecological validity, supported the existence of an interactive relationship between the visual processing of character and surroundings in narrative scene perception.     

The contribution of early auditory and visual information to the discrimination of shot power in ball sports

ObjectiveIt is well-established that early visual information has an important role in human ability to play ball sports, as its correct interpretation promotes accurate predictions concerning the ball motion. Other research highlights that auditory information provides relevant cues in various sport situations. The present study combines these two lines of research with the aim to investigate the contribution of early auditory and visual information to the discrimination of shot power in sport-specific situations.DesignTwo experiments were run, one concerning soccer penalty kicks and the other concerning volleyball smashes. In both experiments there were three conditions: Audio, Audiovideo, and Video; a within subjects design was used, with the three conditions carried out in three different days and in a counterbalanced order among participants.MethodParticipants’ task was to discriminate the power of two penalties/smashes presented in rapid sequence, on the basis of a two-alternative forced choice paradigm.ResultsThe results revealed that, for both penalties and smashes, response accuracy was above chance level in all the three conditions; moreover, while for the penalties no difference among the conditions was observed, for the smashes participants were more accurate in the Audio and Audiovideo conditions compared to the Video condition. As concerns the response times, for both penalties and smashes participants were faster in the Audio and Audiovideo conditions compared to the Video condition.ConclusionsTaken together, the results suggest that the discrimination of shot power was more easily performed on the basis of early auditory information than on the basis of the respective visual information.     

Saving for your future self: The role of imaginary experiences

Despite increased longevity, many people fail to save the funds necessary to support their retirement. In an attempt both to elucidate and remedy this failing, research exploring the “future-self continuity” hypothesis has revealed that temporal discounting is decreased and saving increased when connections between one’s current and future self are strengthened. Here, we explored the possibility that a basic component of mental imagery – spatial visual perspective – may be an important determinant of people’s decisions to spend now or save for the future. The results of two experiments supported this prediction. Rates of saving were enhanced when a distant-future event was generated from a third-person vs. first-person vantage point, an effect that was mediated by visual bodily awareness during mental imagery.     

Polyamory: Experiences of Power from Without,from Within,and in Between

This article highlights the ways in which cultural, relational, and therapeutic power can affect polyamorous relationships and the therapeutic process. In therapy, focusing on the power narratives that polyamorous partners might experience can aid in challenging mononormativity while creating space for a variety of relational orientations. Power processes are presented as occurring on three levels: social discourse (without), relational meaning-making (within), and therapeutic practice (in between). A case study is used to evaluate these processes and implications are provided for clinicians working with polyamorous families.     

视觉适应及其神经机制

视适应使得视觉系统可以连续地根据外界环境的变化做出调整, 改善了对世界的感知。研究提示, 适应影响了对许多基本的视觉属性的加工, 诸如亮度、对比度、运动、颜色等, 也包括对复杂的刺激如面孔等。视适应发生于视觉加工流的多个阶段, 从视网膜到初级视觉皮层以及之后的脑区(例如纹外皮层, 梭状回面孔区)。关于视适应的机制解释, 已从早期的神经元反应疲劳解释发展成当今更流行的标准化模型理论等。最近的适应研究证明, 视觉适应由时间尺度上快慢不同的多重机制控制, 这被认为赋予了视觉系统有效应对环境中不同时间尺度的变化的能力。     

早期儿童关于图画与其所指物间关系的理解--利用两可图进行的考察

先前的研究表明,在3岁或更早儿童的观念中,二维图画与其所指物之间的关系是严格的一一对应的。本实验采用两可图对这一推断进行了检验,结果进一步证实了这一推断。实验还表明,儿童对二维图画的多重解释能力并不意味着一般意义上的心理理论的获得。数据显示,总体而言儿童对两可图的多重解释能力的形成时间稍早于完成错误信念任务能力的形成时间,但是尚不能确定两者之问是否有承继关系。     

汉语形声字语音加工的前词汇通路

本文利用两个行为实验研究了汉语形声字语音加工的前词汇通路。实验-采用命名作业考察了规则性对汉字形声字语音加工的影响,发现在中、低频字中存在规则性效应;实验二考察了视觉对比度和规则性在形声字语音加工中的作用,发现二者存在显著的交互作用,表明汉字语音加工中也存在词汇前通路。作者还从双通道模型角度对实验结果进行了分析。     

Collective efficacy and vigilant problem solving in group decision making: A non-linear model

This research explores the relationship between collective efficacy and aspects of analytic or vigilant problem solving (Janis, 1989) in the context of group decision making. We hypothesized that vigilant problem solving would be most evident under conditions of relatively moderate collective efficacy, as opposed to either very high or very low collective efficacy. We investigated this hypothesis with groups of business students who participated in a complex business strategy simulation. Results show a significant curvilinear relationship between collective efficacy and vigilant problem solving, and a significant linear relationship between vigilant problem solving and decision outcomes. There is also evidence that vigilant problem solving mediates the relationship between collective efficacy and decision outcomes. Implications for theory, managerial practice, and directions for future research are discussed.