发展情境论——一种新的发展系统理论

发展情境论（Developmental Contextualism）是发展系统理论体系中的一种具有代表性的理论。该理论认为人的发展是通过发展中的个体与其所处情境间的持续交互作用实现的,个体的发展变化过程在本质上是或然渐成性的。该理论不仅更系统地概括了影响人发展的时间和空间因素,而且在交互作用观点的基础上提出了循环影响的研究取向。同时,发展情境论认为人的可塑性特点为干预个体的发展提供了可能,并进一步提出了干预的思路,即通过建立和调整个体与所处情境的拟合优度模型来实现个体和所处情境的积极发展。     

Development of perceptual expertise in emotion recognition

How do children’s early social experiences influence their perception of emotion-specific information communicated by the face? To examine this question, we tested a group of abused children who had been exposed to extremely high levels of parental anger expression and physical threat. Children were presented with arrays of stimuli that depicted the unfolding of facial expressions, from neutrality to peak emotions. The abused children accurately recognized anger early in the formation of the facial expression, when few physiological cues were available. The speed of children’s recognition was associated with the degree of anger/hostility reported by the child’s parent. These data highlight the ways in which perceptual learning can shape the timing of emotion perception.     

Multiple realization and methodological pluralism

Multiple realization was once taken to be a challenge to reductionist visions, especially within cognitive science, and a foundation of the “antireductionist consensus.” More recently, multiple realization has come to be challenged on naturalistic grounds, as well as on more “metaphysical” grounds. Within cognitive science, one focal issue concerns the role of neural plasticity for addressing these issues. If reorganization maintains the same cognitive functions, that supports claims for multiple realization. I take up the reorganization involved in language dysfunctions to deal with questions concerned with multiple realization and neural plasticity. Beginning with Broca’s case for localization and the nineteenth century discussion of “reorganization,” and returning to more recent evidence for neural plasticity, I argue that, in the end, there is substantial support for multiple realization in cognitive systems; I further argue that this is wholly consistent with a recognition of methodological pluralism in cognitive science.     

Layer and regional effects of environmental enrichment on the pyramidal neuron morphology of the rat

The environmental enrichment (EE) paradigm is widely used to study experience-dependent brain plasticity. Several studies have investigated functional and anatomical EE effects. However, as EE effects are different according to cerebral region, cortical layer, dendritic field and morphological index considered, a univocal characterization of neuronal morphological changes following rearing in enriched environments is lacking.Aim of the present study was to characterize in the rat the effects of EE on the neuronal morphology of frontal and parietal cortical regions, the main target areas of the stimulation provided by the paradigm. Male Wistar rats were housed in an enriched environment for 3.5 months from the 21st postnatal day. For the morphological analysis, biotinylated dextran amine (BDA)-labeled pyramidal neurons were selected from frontal (M1–M2) and parietal (S1–S2) cortical layers III and V. Apical and basal dendritic branching and spines were analyzed using the Sholl method.Results showed that EE increased branching and spines in both layers of frontal cortex, but had a greater effect on apical arborization. In parietal cortex, EE significantly affected branching and spines in layer III but not layer V neurons, in which only a tendency to be influenced by the rearing conditions was observed in basal arborization.It is hypothesized that these multifaceted morphological EE effects are connected to the heavy involvement of a sensory-motor circuit engaged in the guidance of voluntary action and in motor learning activated by EE stimulation.     

羽毛球运动重塑成年早期的大脑灰质和白质结构

以往研究发现, 球类运动员视知觉脑区的结构不同于非运动员, 但这些脑区结构的差异是训练经历引起还是天生结构不同所导致的, 尚未可知。本研究拟采用纵向设计, 以处于成年早期的成人非运动员为被试(23~27岁), 随机分成实验组和对照组, 实验组参加12周的羽毛球运动训练, 对照组在此期间不进行任何有规律的运动训练, 采集干预实验前后所有被试的结构像和弥散张量成像数据。结果发现, 实验组训练后左下枕叶、颞中回、颞下回灰质体积增加, 双侧内囊后肢、上放射冠各向异性分数(FA)增加, 进一步分析发现, FA增加的原因是径向扩散系数(RD)下降。提示羽毛球运动可增加成人与视运动知觉有关脑区的灰质容量, 增加纤维束的髓鞘厚度。     

ERP and MEG correlates of visual consciousness: The second decade

The first decade of event-related potential (ERP) research had established that the most consistent correlates of the onset of visual consciousness are the early visual awareness negativity (VAN), a posterior negative component in the N2 time range, and the late positivity (LP), an anterior positive component in the P3 time range. Two earlier extensive reviews ten years ago had concluded that VAN is the earliest and most reliable correlate of visual phenomenal consciousness, whereas LP probably reflects later processes associated with reflective/access consciousness. This article provides an update to those earlier reviews. ERP and MEG studies that have appeared since 2010 and directly compared ERPs between aware and unaware conditions are reviewed, and important new developments in the field are discussed. The result corroborates VAN as the earliest and most consistent signature of visual phenomenal consciousness, and casts further doubt on LP as an ERP correlate of phenomenal consciousness.     

Age and Flexible Thinking: An Experimental Demonstration of the Beneficial Effects of Increased Cognitively Stimulating Activity on Fluid Intelligence in Healthy Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The disuse hypothesis of cognitive aging attributes decrements in fluid intelligence in older adults to reduced cognitively stimulating activity. This study experimentally tested the hypothesis that a period of increased mentally stimulating activities thus would enhance older adults' fluid intelligence performance. Participants (N?=?44, mean age 67.82) were administered pre- and post-test measures, including the fluid intelligence measure, Cattell's Culture Fair (CCF) test. Experimental participants engaged in diverse, novel, mentally stimulating activities for 10–12 weeks and were compared to a control condition. Results supported the hypothesis; the experimental group showed greater pre- to post-CCF gain than did controls (effect size d?=?0.56), with a similar gain on a spatial-perceptual task (WAIS-R Blocks). Even brief periods of increased cognitive stimulation can improve older adults' problem solving and flexible thinking.     

Effect of Sb on coarsening of Fe particles in a Cu-Fe alloy

The influence of Sb on the coarsening behaviour of spherical α-Fe and γ-Fe particles in a Cu?Fe alloy has been investigated. The size of thparticles was determined by transmission electron microscopy and the Fe concentration in the Cu matrix by electric resistivity measurements. Adding Sb decreases the coarsening rate of the Fe particles, primarily via a reduction in the volume diffusivity of Fe in Cu. The pre-exponential factor and activation energy for volume diffusion are increased by the addition of Sb atoms in the matrix. The Sb addition changes the incoherent α-Fe?Cu interface energy by segregation of Sb at the incoherent interfaces but not the coherent γ-Fe?Cu interface energy.     

Bulk metallic glass formation near the TiCu–TiNi pseudo-binary eutectic composition

No bulk metallic glass (BMG) has been observed so far in the Ti–Cu binary system. It has been found that by choosing a pseudo-binary eutectic (L?→?TiCu +TiNi) deeper than that in the binary, reachable via only small substitution of Cu with Ni, the glass-forming ability can be effectively elevated. BMGs of 1–1.5 mm diameter have been formed over a composition range around Ti₅₀Cu₄₃Ni₇. The new BMGs are reproducibly malleable with significant compressive plastic strains.     

Scaling of stacking fault energy and deformation temperature on strain hardening of FCC metals and alloys

The strain-hardening behaviour of metals and alloys are significantly affected by the dynamic recovery process, the rate of which can be increased by increases in deformation temperature and/or stacking fault energy (SFE). In the present work, the decay slope of the strain-hardening rate with flow stress as a function of both temperature and stacking fault energy is quantitatively evaluated for several face-centered cubic metals and alloys. A universal and quantitative approach to the scaling of the effects of temperature and stacking fault energy on strain-hardening behaviour is developed, which could be useful for predicting deformation behaviour or for material design.