Individual differences in information order effects: The importance of right-hemisphere access in belief updating

The order in which information is received alters the evaluation of causal hypotheses. Specifically, research suggests that the last piece of information oftentimes has the greatest impact on the evaluation and that the difference in subjective value between two pieces of information is an important factor influencing the magnitude of this recency effect. The present paper extends this line of work by exploring individual differences in this phenomenon via one's degree of handedness. Two hundred and five participants were given two hypothetical scenarios and related causal hypotheses accompanied by two pieces of additional information and asked to revise their belief in each hypothesis as information accumulated. Results confirmed predictions that 1) inconsistent/mixed-handers (those who use their non-dominant hand for at least some activities) show a larger effect with two pieces of inconsistent weak or strong information, and 2) neither mixed-handers nor consistent/strong-handers (those who use their dominant hand for almost all activities) show an effect with strong and weak pieces of consistent information. Mixed-handers' susceptibility to persuasive arguments and Ramachandran’s (1995; Ramachandran and Blakeslee, 1998) belief-updating theory centered around communication between the two halves of the brain and functional access to the right hemisphere are used to account for these data.     

Association between individual differences in non-symbolic number acuity and math performance: A meta-analysis

Many recent studies have examined the association between number acuity, which is the ability to rapidly and non-symbolically estimate the quantity of items appearing in a scene, and symbolic math performance. However, various contradictory results have been reported. To comprehensively evaluate the association between number acuity and symbolic math performance, we conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize the results observed in previous studies. First, a meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies (36 samples, N = 4705) revealed a significant positive correlation between these skills (r = 0.20, 95% CI = [0.14, 0.26]); the association remained after considering other potential moderators (e.g., whether general cognitive abilities were controlled). Moreover, a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies revealed 1) that number acuity may prospectively predict later math performance (r = 0.24, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.37]; 6 samples) and 2) that number acuity is retrospectively correlated to early math performance as well (r = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.26]; 5 samples). In summary, these pieces of evidence demonstrate a moderate but statistically significant association between number acuity and math performance. Based on the estimated effect sizes, power analyses were conducted, which suggested that many previous studies were underpowered due to small sample sizes. This may account for the disparity between findings in the literature, at least in part. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of our meta-analytic findings are presented, and future research questions are discussed.     

Explaining color term typology with an evolutionary model

An expression-induction model was used to simulate the evolution of basic color terms to test Berlin and Kay's (1969) hypothesis that the typological patterns observed in basic color term systems are produced by a process of cultural evolution under the influence of biases resulting from the special properties of universal focal colors. Ten agents were simulated, each of which could learn color term denotations by generalizing from examples using Bayesian inference, and for which universal focal red, yellow, green, and blue were especially salient, but unevenly spaced in the perceptual color space. Conversations between these agents, in which agents would learn from one another, were simulated over several generations, and the languages emerging at the end of each simulation were investigated. The proportion of color terms of each type correlated closely with the equivalent frequencies found in the World Color Survey, and most of the emergent languages could be placed on one of the evolutionary trajectories proposed by Kay and Maffi (1999). The simulation therefore demonstrates how typological patterns can emerge as a result of learning biases acting over a period of time.     

Memories affect mood: evidence from covert experimental assignment to positive, neutral, and negative memory recall

Memory recall has been proposed as a common and effective mood regulation strategy. Although several studies have presented results suggesting that recalling valenced memories affects subsequent mood, their designs allow for alternative interpretations of the observed effects. Two such alternatives include the reverse effect (mood effects on memory due to non-experimental assignment to memory recall condition) and demand characteristics of the experiment. We used covert experimental assignment to memory condition, asking subjects (N=314; 56% female) to recall memories that were primarily positive, neutral, or negative. Results showed the expected effect on mood (p<.002), with reported mood worst in the negative memory condition, better in the neutral condition, and best in the positive condition. These results suggest that valenced memory recall does indeed exert an effect on mood, and may do so even without the individual's awareness.     

Interoceptive fear conditioning as a learning model of panic disorder: an experimental evaluation using 20% CO(2)-enriched air in a non-clinical sample

Despite the role afforded interoceptive fear conditioning in etiologic accounts of panic disorder, there are no good experimental demonstrations of such learning in humans. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the interoceptive conditioning account using 20% carbon dioxide (CO(2))-enriched air as an interoceptive conditioned stimulus (CS) (i.e., physiologically inert 5-s exposures) and unconditioned stimulus (US) (i.e., physiologically prepotent 15-s exposures). Healthy participants (N=42) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a CS-only, contingent CS-US pairings, or unpaired/non-contingent CS and US presentations. Electrodermal and self-report (e.g., distress, fear) served as indices of conditioned emotional responding. Results showed greater magnitude electrodermal and evaluative fear conditioning in the paired relative to the CS-only condition. The explicitly unpaired condition showed even greater electrodermal and evaluative responding during acquisition, and marked resistance to extinction. The latter results are consistent with the possibility that the unpaired procedure constituted a partial reinforcement procedure in which CO(2) onset was paired with more extended CO(2) exposure on 50% of the trials. Overall, the findings are consistent with contemporary learning theory accounts of panic.     

Creativity and dialectical phenomena From dialectical edge to dialectical space1

The seeds of creativity have the potential to germinate and flourish within the rich, ambiguous and unsettling tapestry of the core dialectical tensions related to the central organizing dialectic, life and death, generated in the patient‐analyst relating. The author introduces the concept of the ‘dialectical edge’ and describes it as the pivotal point in the dialectical struggle within these core dialectical dilemmas. This is a fluid, emotionally evocative threshold, where there is maximum potential for change, as well as for homeostatic stagnation. Drawing on Winnicott, the author illustrates how the presence of an edge within these dialectical dilemmas has the potential to open up into a creative, reflective space. He suggests that this, however, will depend on the therapist's capacity to contain/hold at this edge the arousing and intense affects‐such as anxiety, dread, excitement and passion‐that are inevitably generated at these pivotal relational moments. This will determine whether the patient will move forwards into the light of a creative, reflective, dialectical space, or backwards into collapsed, non‐reflective darkness, where fluid oscillation is transformed into rigid ossification. The author uses a clinical example to illustrate these dialectical phenomena, with a special focus on two clinically relevant dialectics, i.e. ‘ritual versus spontaneity’ and ‘closeness versus separateness’.     

Paired-associate learning, phoneme awareness, and learning to read

We report two studies examining the relations among three paired-associate learning (PAL) tasks (visual-visual, verbal-verbal, and visual-verbal), phoneme deletion, and single-word and nonword reading ability. Correlations between the PAL tasks and reading were strongest for the visual-verbal task. Path analyses showed that both phoneme deletion and visual-verbal PAL were unique predictors of a composite measure of single-word reading and of irregular word reading. However, for nonword reading, phoneme deletion was the only unique predictor (and visual-verbal PAL was not a significant predictor). These results are consistent with the view that learning visual (orthography) to phonological mappings is an important skill for developing word recognition skills in reading and that individual differences in this ability can be tapped experimentally by a PAL task.     

南京居民医疗服务潜在需求成因分析及其合理转化建议

通过南京市8个区、县4873户居民的基线调查,掌握居民对医疗服务的实际利用情况,通过比较医疗需求与利用之间的差距,发现存在很大的潜在医疗服务需求市场。从医疗服务供需双方分析其产生的原因,找出医疗服务需求与利用的主要影响因素,从而探讨如何将这部分潜在需求合理转化。     

The effects of music exposure and own genre preference on conscious and unconscious cognitive processes: a pilot ERP study

Did Beethoven and Mozart have more in common with each other than Clapton and Hendrix? The current research demonstrated the widely reported Mozart Effect as only partly significant. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 16 professional classical and rock musicians during a standard 2 stimulus visual oddball task, while listening to classical and rock music. During the oddball task participants were required to discriminate between an infrequent target stimulus randomly embedded in a train of repetitive background or standard stimuli. Consistent with previous research, the P3 and N2 ERPs were elicited in response to the infrequent target stimuli. Own genre preference resulted in a reduction in amplitude of the P3 for classical musicians exposed to classical music and rock musicians exposed to rock music. Notably, at the pre-attentive stage of processing (N2) beneficial effects of exposure to classical music were observed for both groups of musicians. These data are discussed in terms of short and long-term music benefits on both conscious and unconscious cognitive processes.     

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.