Stereotype internalization and women’s math performance: The role of interference in working memory

It has long been argued that stigmatized individuals can ultimately internalize the stereotype alleging their inferiority. The present article investigated whether the internalization of the reputation of math inferiority that targets women can affect their math performance and whether this influence is caused by a disruption of working memory. A first study showed that stereotype endorsement had a significant impact on women’s statistic performance by lowering their self-evaluation of math ability even when controlling for prior achievement. A second study was designed to assess the possibility that the lower math performance displayed by women with low self-evaluation of math ability was due to interference in working memory. Using a dual task paradigm, this study showed that indeed women with low math self-evaluation displayed more errors and spent more time solving additions than women with high math self-evaluation, but mainly on difficult items of the dual task. The findings, which are congruent with an explanation in terms of a temporary disruption of working memory, are discussed.     

轻度认知损伤的语义记忆研究述评

轻度认知损伤（Mild cognitive impairment,MCI）是介于正常老化与痴呆之间的过渡阶段,表现为与年龄和教育程度不相称的认知功能减退。本文回顾了近期有关MCI语义记忆的研究,分析比较了各研究的实验任务及结果,得出MCI患者存在一定程度的由多种原因造成的语义记忆损伤,语义记忆测验对MCI的早期筛查和转归预测有重要作用。最后指出将来的研究需要将包括语义记忆成分在内的多种认知测验相结合,以便及早发现有可能发展为痴呆的危险个体并开展相应干预。     

灾难给我们的心理留下了什么？ ——创伤心理的根源及创伤后应激反应的脑机制

创伤是指灾难性或创伤性事件给个体带来的伤害,不仅指身体受伤害,还包括心理伤害。创伤因素引发的强烈的情感反应和心理阴影会形成创伤心理,处理不当会进一步发展成创伤后应激障碍。本文主要从心理学的角度来探讨了创伤性事件引起的创伤心理及其形成的根源和创伤后应激反应的脑机制,最后根据心理学最新的相关研究结果提出干预建议,为有关部门的工作提供一定的参考     

记忆中的错误联接:影响因素和理论建构

记忆中的错误联接是指被试在测验中,对先前学过的刺激的某部分重新组合成的新刺激产生错误再认,包括特征错误和联合错误.近年来,出现了众多的有关记忆中的错误联接的理论模型,对影响错误联接的因素,人们也进行了深入探讨.     

汉字记忆中错误联接的码相加效应

采用错误联接的实验范式考察汉字记忆中的码相加效应。实验1采用形码加义码,结果发现对义似形似组的特征诱字错误再认率显著高于义异形似组的。实验2采用形码加音码．结果发现对音似形似组的诱字的错误再认率显著高于音异形似组的。研究表明汉语记忆中的错误联接存在码相加效应。研究结果可用激活混淆来源理论解释。     

Coping with challenge and hindrance stressors in teams: Behavioral,cognitive, and affective outcomes

The purpose of this study was to utilize the challenge–hindrance framework to examine the discrete and combined effects of different environmental stressors on behavioral, cognitive, and affective outcomes at the team level. Results from 83 teams working on a command and control simulation indicated that the introduction of a challenge stressor positively affected team performance and transactive memory. The introduction of a hindrance stressor negatively affected team performance and transactive memory and positively affected psychological withdrawal. When the hindrance stressor was combined with the challenge stressor, teams exhibited the lowest levels of performance and transactive memory, and the highest levels of psychological withdrawal. These effects were due to the adoption of specific coping strategies by team members. Implications are discussed, as well as limitations and directions for future research.     

A model of working memory capacity in the radial-arm maze task

The radial arm maze is one of the most commonly used tests for assessing working memory in laboratory animals. However, to date, there exists no quantitative method of estimating working memory capacity from performance on this task. Here, we present a mathematical model of performance on the radial arm maze from which we can derive estimates of capacity. We derive explicit results for the two most commonly used measures of performance as functions of number of arms in the maze and memory capacity, assuming a uniform random search. We simulate random non-uniform search strategies. Comparing our model to previous experiments, we show that our model predicts a working memory capacity in the range of 3-9 at the level of performance observed in these experiments. This estimate is within the typical estimate of human working memory capacity. Performance of rats on large mazes (e.g. 48 arms) has been used as evidence that the working memory capacity of rats may be significantly larger than that of humans. We report that memory capacity in the range 3-9 is sufficient to explain the performance of rats in very large radial mazes. Furthermore, when we simulate non-uniform random search strategies observed in the experiments, the resulting estimates do not differ significantly from those assuming a uniform random search. We conclude that a list-based model of working memory with modest capacity is more powerful than previously expected.     

Neural correlates of variable working memory load across adult age and skill: dissociative patterns within the fronto-parietal network

We examined neural changes related to variations in working memory load by using an n -back task with three levels and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Younger adults were divided into high- and low-performing groups (Young-High; Young-Low) and compared with older adults. Relative to Young-High, capacity-constraints in working memory were apparent between load 1–2 for the elderly and between load 2–3 for Young-Low. Capacity-constraints in neural activity followed this pattern by showing a monotonically increasing response in parietal cortex and thalamus for Young-High, whereas activity leveled off at 1-back for the elderly and at 2-back for Young-Low. The response in dorsal frontal cortex followed a similar pattern with the addition that the magnitude of activation differed within capacity limitations (Old > Young at 1-back; Young-Low > Young-High at 2-back). These findings indicate that an important determinant of WM capacity is the ability to keep the frontal cortex adequately engaged in relation to current task demands.     

The Signal-Cognition interface: Interactions between degraded auditory signals and cognitive processes

A hearing loss leads to problems with speech perception; this is exacerbated when competing noise is present. The speech signal is recognized by the cognitive system of the listener; noise and distortion tax the cognitive system when interpreting it. The auditory system must interact with the cognitive system for optimal signal decoding. This article discusses this interaction between the signal and cognitive system based on two models: an auditory model describing signal transmission and degeneration due to a hearing loss and a cognitive model for Ease of Language Understanding. The signal distortion depends on the specifics of the hearing impairment and thus differently distorted signals can affect the cognitive system in different ways. Consequently, the severity of a hearing loss may not only depend on the lesion itself but also on the cognitive recourses required to interpret the signal.     

Overweight and cognition

There is a growing concern among health authorities that an increasing number of people in the Western world become overweight and even obese. It is well known that obesity is related to several diseases (e.g., diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure) and that such diseases related to obesity lead to early death. It has also been discussed whether overweight and obesity in themselves or in relation to such diseases lead to cognitive decline. On the basis of data from a large, population‐based, prospective study we examined three cognitive domains: episodic memory, semantic memory, and spatial ability. Two body measures were used to define normal weight and overweight, body‐mass index and waist/hip ratio. Although these two body measures reveal quite different prevalence data of overweight, the associations between overweight and cognition are similar. For episodic memory, overweight interacts with age, but when controlling for hypertension, stroke and diabetes, this interaction disappears. For semantic memory, normal weight participants outperform overweight participants even after controlling for these diseases. For spatial ability, the well‐established advantage for men holds for young‐old and old‐old normal‐weight participants. For overweight participants, this advantage holds for middle‐age participants only. We conclude that there is a weight‐cognition relationship even after controlling for obesity‐related diseases. The results are discussed in terms of possible biological mechanisms.