Memory reloaded: Memory load effects in the attentional blink

When two targets are presented in rapid succession, identification of the first is nearly perfect, while identification of the second is impaired when it follows the first by less than about 700 ms. According to bottleneck models, this attentional blink (AB) occurs because the second target is unable to gain access to capacity-limited working memory processes already occupied by the first target. Evidence for this hypothesis, however, has been mixed, with recent reports suggesting that increasing working memory load does not affect the AB. The present paper explores possible reasons for failures to find a link between memory load and the AB and shows that a reliable effect of load can be obtained when the item directly after T1 (Target 1) is omitted. This finding provides initial evidence that working memory load can influence the AB and additional evidence for a link between T1 processing time and the AB predicted by bottleneck models.     

Constraints on Pavlovian conditioning of the pigeon: Relative conditioned reinforcing effects of red-light and tone CSs paired with food

Recent Pavlovian conditioning experiments presented all possible CS-US combinations of red-light and tone CSs and food and shock USs to separate groups of pigeons. Pigeons receiving shock USs demonstrated conditioned head raising followed by prancing to both CSs, but CRs were acquired more rapidly to tone than to red light. Although pigeons receiving food USs rapidly acquired a conditioned response of pecking to the red-light CS, there was no evidence of conditioned responding in groups receiving tone-food pairings. This outcome left open the possibility that Pavlovian pairings of tone and food may have resulted in association formation that was not revealed in performance. The present series of experiments attempted to reveal that association, using an indirect method of assessment, conditioned reinforcement. Experiment 1 demonstrated that both red light and tone paired with food became positive conditioned reinforcers, suggesting that an association between tone and food was formed in the same number of Pavlovian conditioning trials that previously failed to yield any direct evidence of conditioning. Experiment 2, which presented fewer conditioning trials, revealed that the tone-food association was formed less rapidly than the red light-food association. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the observed outcomes were not attributable to unconditioned, rather than conditioned, reinforcing effects of the Css.     

Parent Education for Migrant Mothers of Left‐Behind Children in China: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Although numerous studies have indicated the significance of parental support and parent–child communication in alleviating the adverse effects of parental departure on left‐behind children, researchers have rarely addressed the impact of parent education on migrant parents. On the basis of the results of a pilot randomized controlled trial, the study reported here involved examining the possible outcomes and feasibility of a parent education program for rural‐to‐urban migrant mothers of left‐behind children in China. Informed by an existential–narrative approach to parent education, the program was composed of six 2.5‐hour sessions. The sample included 56 migrant mothers recruited from a social service center in Shenzhen, China, who were randomly assigned to either the immediate group (n = 28, M = 34.82 years, SD = 4.12, aged 23–43) or the waitlist control group (n = 28, M = 34.68 years, SD = 4.53, aged 28–43). The hypotheses of the trial were twofold: that the program would positively affect participants’ parental identity and that it would improve mother–child relationships and parenting practices. The results revealed no significant difference in parental identity between the intervention group and the waitlist control group at the post‐test assessment after ruling out the effects of pretest survey scores. However, significant differences did emerge in parent–child relationships and parenting practices. Overall, the results corroborate the feasibility of examining the current program for migrant mothers in China in a full trial. The findings also offer insights into developing empirically supported parent education programs for migrant parents.     

A developmental perspective on reading dysfunction: Accuracy and rate criteria in the subtyping of dyslexic children

Children referred with specific reading dysfunction were subtyped as accuracy disabled or rate disabled according to criteria developed from an information processing model of reading skill. Multiple measures of oral and written language development were compared for two subtyped samples matched on age, sex, and IQ. The two samples were comparable in reading fluency, reading comprehension, word knowledge, and word retrieval functions. Accuracy disabled readers demonstrated inferior decoding and spelling skills. The accuracy disabled sample proved deficient in their understanding of oral language structure and in their ability to associate unfamiliar pseudowords and novel symbols in a task designed to simulate some of the learning involved in initial reading acquisition. It was suggested that these two samples of disabled readers may be best described with respect to their relative standing along a theoretical continuum of normal reading development.     

Associations between Positive Parenting Practices and Child Externalizing Behavior in Underserved Latino Immigrant Families

This study examined whether five specific parenting practices (i.e., monitoring, discipline, skill encouragement, problem solving, and positive involvement) were associated with reduced child externalizing behaviors among a sample of Latino immigrant families. It utilized baseline data from 83 Latino couples with children participating in a larger randomized controlled trial of a culturally adapted parenting intervention. Results reveal that monitoring, discipline, skill encouragement, and problem solving each made independent contributions to the prediction of child externalizing behavior, although not all in the expected direction. Further analyses examining mothers and fathers separately suggest that mother‐reported monitoring and father‐reported discipline practices uniquely contributed to these findings. These results may have important implications for prevention and clinical intervention efforts with Latino immigrant families, including the cultural adaptation and implementation of parenting interventions with this underserved population.     

An examination of vicarious reinforcement processes in children

The primary purpose of the present investigation was to examine vicarious reinforcement processes in children. More specifically, the effects on one child of observing another same-sex child receive direct reinforcement were explored across three different age levels. Subjects were 216 children, randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. For the control condition, neither child in the same-sex, same-age dyad received reinforcement for performance on the experimental task. For the experimental condition, one child in each dyad received direct social reinforcement for performance, while the other child received no social reinforcement for similar performance. Although children who observed other children receive direct social reinforcement initially increased performance (as predicted by vicarious reinforcement hypotheses), their performance soon decreased and was characterized by verbal and nonverbal responses which appeared to interfere with task performance (e.g., “Hey, I can do them too”, “Look at mine”, “There's no use in trying”). It appeared as if these observing children were being punished for their performance. Such effects were more pronounced for older than younger children; however, they were observed equally in boys and girls. Results were discussed in terms of vicarious reinforcement and “implicit punishment” hypotheses. Implications for applied settings were also addressed.     

负性生活事件对大学生抑郁的影响：网络成瘾的中介与5-HTR1A基因rs749098多态性的调节作用

基于抑郁的基因-环境研究范式,以301名大学生为研究对象,探究负性生活事件对大学生抑郁的影响及作用机制。结果表明：(1)负性生活事件、网络成瘾与大学生抑郁两两显著相关;(2)网络成瘾在负性生活事件对大学生抑郁的影响中起部分中介作用;(3) 5-HTR1A基因rs749098多态性在该中介模型的直接路径和中介后半段起调节效应,具体表现为,相比携带C/G和G/G基因型个体,C/C基因型个体负性生活事件对抑郁的负向预测更强,且携带C/C基因型的个体,即使是低水平的网络成瘾的都表现出更高的抑郁情况,而在高水平的网络成瘾的情况下三种基因型都表现出高水平的抑郁。     

Motor perseverative behavior in adult stutterers and nonstutterers

The performances of 22 adult stutterers and 22 adult nonstutterers on motor tasks requiring the graphic reproduction of a sequence of alternating figures following the production of a series of nonalternating figures were studied. The finding that there were no differences in the performance of the two groups on the alternating motor tasks was interpreted as challenging the validity of previous observations that motor perseverative behavior exists in stutterers and is indicative of a central neurological deficit in that population.     

王家台《归藏》与《穆天子传》

1993年3月,湖北江陵王家台15号秦墓中出土了《归藏》。王家台《归藏》举世瞩目,一些学者认为它就是商易。本文根据王家台《归藏》内容多出《穆天子传》本事的事实,认定王家台《归藏》必成书于《穆天子传》之后,属战国作品。本文还进一步分析了学术史上的相关问题,以为类似王家台《归藏》的内容很可能在西晋汲冢所出书中就已经发现。     

Hesitation and the production of verbal paraphasias and neologisms in jargon aphasia.

Techniques of hesitation analysis taken from studies of normal speakers were applied to the speech of a jargon aphasic. Neologisms were found to follow pauses indicating a word-finding difficulty. Other language functions—phonology, morphology, and syntax—appeared unimpaired, and further analyses of the linguistic and temporal characteristics indicated a single functional disorder in which there is a failure in the mechanisms which associate word-sounds with word-meanings. The patient strategically adapts to this functional impairment by substituting a neologism when lexical search fails. The source of a large class of neologisms, it is hypothesized, is a device which quasirandomly combines English phonemes in a phonotactically regular way. The implications for recovery patterns in jargon aphasia are discussed; and the implications of this case for models of normal language production are explored.