中文词类信息在副中央凹中的加工

本研究采用边界范式, 通过操纵预视词和目标词的词类一致性探讨中文阅读中副中央凹中能否加工词类信息。实验采用单因素3水平设计, 三种预视条件: 一致预视、词类不违背预视、词类违背预视。对实验数据进行线性混合模型及贝叶斯分析发现: 词类违背条件和词类不违背条件下对目标词的注视时间和注视概率没有显著差异, 即无词类信息的预视效应。该结果倾向于支持序列注意转移模型, 眼动控制模型的未来发展应更加关注灵活性和普适性。     

An integrated model of eye movements and visual encoding

Recent computational models of cognition have made good progress in accounting for the visual processes needed to encode external stimuli. However, these models typically incorporate simplified models of visual processing that assume a constant encoding time for all visual objects and do not distinguish between eye movements and shifts of attention. This paper presents a domain-independent computational model, EMMA, that provides a more rigorous account of eye movements and visual encoding and their interaction with a cognitive processor. The visual-encoding component of the model describes the effects of frequency and foveal eccentricity when encoding visual objects as internal representations. The eye-movement component describes the temporal and spatial characteristics of eye movements as they arise from shifts of visual attention. When integrated with a cognitive model, EMMA generates quantitative predictions concerning when and where the eyes move, thus serving to relate higher-level cognitive processes and attention shifts with lower-level eye-movement behavior. The paper evaluates EMMA in three illustrative domains — equation solving, reading, and visual search — and demonstrates how the model accounts for aspects of behavior that simpler models of cognitive and visual processing fail to explain.     

Attention Is Required to Coordinate Reaching and Postural Stability during Upper Limb Movements Generated While Standing

Abstract

In the present study we investigated how attention contributes to the interaction between reach planning and execution, and postural control. Reaching movements were generated while standing and were performed either in isolation or in conjunction with a secondary reaction time (RT) task. In addition, to better understand how online movement control is affected by this interaction, the reaching movements could be unexpectedly perturbed medial-laterally. Postural kinetic, arm kinematic and RT, and secondary RT measures were used to characterize the responses. Results indicate task performance worsened when both the reaching and secondary tasks were completed simultaneously. Our results imply the generation of reaching movements while standing requires attentional resources to properly coordinate the interaction between the reaching task and postural control.     

阅读理解中的代词加工:先行词的距离与性别刻板印象的作用

采用眼动技术,本研究探讨了阅读理解中代词的加工机制.读者阅读包含代词的文本,代词的性别与先行词的性别刻板印象一致或违背,同时其和先行词间的距离或远或近,记录被试阅读文本的眼动轨迹.结果发现,与一致条件相比,违背条件的加工时间更长.当代词和先行词间距离较近时,一致性效应在关键代词区的反映早期加工的眼动指标上即出现,而当二者间距离较远时,一致性效应在更后的位置(代词后那一区域)出现,并且只出现在反映晚期加工的眼动指标上.此外,与远距离一致条件相比,近距离一致条件下代词后那一区域的阅读时间更长.上述结果表明,性别刻板印象以及距离在代词加工皆发挥重要作用,而且性别刻板印象产生的影响在时程上因距离的不同而不同.这一结果在一定程度上为语言理解的交互作用理论提供了证据.     

The relationship between post-trauma problem reporting and carer quality of life after severe head injury

Abstract

Head injury is a significant cause of death and disability. This study examined the quality of life of carers of individuals following severe head injury from the acute neurosurgical care period to one year post discharge from hospital. The contribution of patterns of problem reporting by patients and their carers to quality of life was examined. Carer psychosocial adjustment and individual quality of life evaluations were significantly poorer than general population levels and did not change over a one year period. However, significant increases in the number of problems reported were noted over time. No significant differences were found between patients and carers in the numbers of problems identified at each of three assessments, although the level of agreement about problems identified was quite low. Female patients reported significantly more problems than male patients. Carer problem reporting was found to significantly predict carer quality of life and psychosocial functioning to a greater extent than patient problem reporting, a pattern which emerged after the patient had been discharged from hospital. The study demonstrates increasing problem profiles and differing perceptions of patients and carers over time. Combined with a lack of improvement in carer quality of life over a one year recovery period, this highlights the need for longer-term professional support and advice services aimed at both patients and carers.     

Agreement between Parents and Children on Ratings of Post-Concussive Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

The level of parent-child agreement on post-concussive symptoms (PCS) was examined in children following mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI). As part of a larger longitudinal study, 186 children with mild TBI and 99 with orthopedic injuries (OI), from 8 to 15 years of age, were recruited prospectively. Parents and children completed the PCS Interview (PCS-I) and the Health and Behavior Inventory (HBI) at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 12 months postinjury. Item-level correlations between child and parent ratings on both measures of PCS were significant but modest in both groups. Parent-child correlations for composite scales on the HBI and the total score on the PCS-I were significant in both groups, but somewhat higher in the OI group than in the mild TBI group. Mean symptom ratings tended to be significantly higher for children as compared to parents, especially for somatic symptoms. Parents and children display modest agreement when reporting PCS; their ratings correlate significantly, but children report higher mean levels of symptoms than parents.     

Bilateral saccadic eye movements and tactile stimulation,but not auditory stimulation,enhance memory retrieval

Recent research has shown superior memory retrieval when participants make a series of horizontal saccadic eye movements between the memory encoding phase and the retrieval phase compared to participants who do not move their eyes or move their eyes vertically. It has been hypothesized that the rapidly alternating activation of the two hemispheres that is associated with the series of left–right eye movements is critical in causing the enhanced retrieval. This hypothesis predicts a beneficial effect on retrieval of alternating left–right stimulation not only of the visuomotor system, but also of the somatosensory system, both of which have a strict contralateral organization. In contrast, this hypothesis does not predict an effect, or a weaker effect, on retrieval of alternating left–right stimulation of the auditory system, which has a much less lateralized organization. Consistent with these predictions, we replicated the horizontal saccade-induced retrieval enhancement (Experiment 1) and showed that a similar retrieval enhancement occurs after alternating left–right tactile stimulation (Experiment 2). Furthermore, retrieval was not enhanced after alternating left–right auditory stimulation compared to simultaneous bilateral auditory stimulation (Experiment 3). We discuss the possibility that alternating bilateral activation of the left and right hemispheres exerts its effects on memory by increasing the functional connectivity between the two hemispheres. We also discuss the findings in the context of clinical practice, in which bilateral eye movements (EMDR) and auditory stimulation are used in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.     

The time course of predictability effects in reading: Evidence from a survival analysis of fixation durations

To investigate the time course of predictability effects in reading, the present study examined distributions of first-fixation durations on target words in a low predictability versus a high predictability prior context. In a replication of Staub (2011), ex-Gaussian fitting demonstrated that the low predictability distribution was significantly shifted to the right of the high predictability distribution in the absence of any contextual differences in the degree of skew. Extending this finding, the present study used a survival analysis technique to demonstrate a significant influence of predictability on fixation duration as early as 140 ms from the start of fixation, which is similar to prior results obtained with the word frequency variable. These results provide convergent evidence that lexical variables have a fast acting influence on fixation durations during reading. Implications for models of eye-movement control are discussed.     

Content,not context,facilitates memory for real-world scenes

ABSTRACT

Can eye movements tell us whether people will remember a scene? In order to investigate the link between eye movements and memory encoding and retrieval, we asked participants to study photographs of real-world scenes while their eye movements were being tracked. We found eye gaze patterns during study to be predictive of subsequent memory for scenes. Moreover, gaze patterns during study were more similar to gaze patterns during test for remembered than for forgotten scenes. Thus, eye movements are indeed indicative of scene memory. In an explicit test for context effects of eye movements on memory, we found recognition rate to be unaffected by the disruption of spatial and/or temporal context of repeated eye movements. Therefore, we conclude that eye movements cue memory by selecting and accessing the most relevant scene content, regardless of its spatial location within the scene or the order in which it was selected.     

Extrafoveal capture of attention by emotional scenes: affective valence versus visual saliency

ABSTRACT

Pairs of emotional (pleasant or unpleasant) and neutral scenes were presented peripherally (≥5° away from fixation) during a central letter-discrimination task. Selective attentional capture was assessed by means of eye movement orienting, i.e., probability of first fixating a scene and the time until first fixation. Static and dynamic visual saliency values of the scenes were computationally modelled. Results revealed selective orienting to both pleasant and unpleasant relative to neutral scenes. Importantly, such effects remained in the absence of visual saliency differences, even though saliency influenced eye movements. This suggests that selective attention to emotional scenes is genuinely driven by the processing of affective significance in extrafoveal vision.