信念-愿望推理中的抑制加工

在Leslie的心理理论机制选择加工模型(ToMM-SP)理论的基础上,本研究探讨信念-愿望推理任务中抑制是如何加工的,并验证Leslie提出的两个抑制模型。采用三地点双重抑制任务,对216名4~6岁儿童实施两个实验。分别考察心理定势及三个地点公平性这两个因素对儿童选择偏好的影响。结果表明,两种因素都对儿童的表现有影响。消除了这两个因素的影响后,儿童的表现符合返回抑制模型的假说,即儿童在回避愿望的错误信念任务中的抑制加工是系列的。     

语境位置对不同认知方式个体歧义句歧义消解的影响

采用意义适合性判断任务,考察了语境位置对不同认知方式个体歧义句理解过程中抑制内部干扰的影响。结果发现：语境位置影响歧义句的歧义消解,对歧义句不适当意义的抑制作用方面,前语境优于后语境;在自然阅读的条件下,在句子加工的初始阶段,场独立个体能够更好的利用前语境信息抑制内部无关信息的干扰,而场依存个体在句子加工的初始阶段对前、后语境的阅读时间上不存在差异,而在句子加工的后期需用更多时间才能完成对内部干扰的抑制。     

Working memory and response inhibition in children and adolescents: age and organization issues

The aim of the present study was to examine the role of age in the organization of verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory and inhibition; specifically whether these constructs could be considered unitary or separate in children aged 7 to 12 years (n = 164) and in adolescents aged 13 to 16 years (n = 75) using a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Results suggested that verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory and inhibition improved from childhood to adolescence. However, improvement was not followed by a change in the organization of these components. Verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory and inhibition constituted separable but associated constructs in children and in adolescents.     

Two types of behavioral inhibition: Relations to effortful control and attention in school children

This study aimed to examine the relationship of two types of behavioral inhibition, social inhibition and nonsocial inhibition, to effortful control and attention in 7–9-year olds. Social and nonsocial inhibition and effortful control were assessed by questionnaires. The child version of the Attention Network Task was used to measure attention including alerting, orienting and executive attention. Results indicated that in girls, social inhibition was negatively related to effortful control and alerting, while nonsocial inhibition was positively related to orienting; there was an interaction between social and nonsocial inhibition in predicting executive attention in boys. Thus, it is of great significance to differentiate social and nonsocial inhibition when examining the association between behavioral inhibition and effortful control and attention in school-age children.     

Behavioral inhibition and triallelic genotyping of the serotonin transporter promoter (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism

To examine the genetic bases of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and the behavioral approach system (BAS), we evaluated the association between the BIS, the BAS, and a functional length polymorphism in the promoter of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) in an unscreened sample of undergraduates (N = 211); analyses were conducted using a two-variant (i.e., biallelic) genotyping and three-variant (i.e., triallelic) genotyping of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. People with one or two copies of the low-expressing alleles reported stronger endorsement of the BIS than people who were homozygous for the high-expressing alleles; this association was found for triallelic but not biallelic genotyping of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. There was no association between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and the BAS scales.     

Temporal preparation and inhibitory deficit in fibromyalgia syndrome

Cognitive deficits in fibromyalgia may be specifically related to controlled processes, such as those measured by working memory or executive function tasks. This hypothesis was tested here by measuring controlled temporal preparation (temporal orienting) during a response inhibition (go no-go) task. Temporal orienting effects (faster reaction times for targets appearing at temporally attended vs. unattended moments) and response inhibition were impaired in fibromyalgia compared to the control group. It is concluded that frontal networks underlying attentional control (temporal orienting and response inhibition) can be a dysfunctional neurocognitive mechanism in fibromyalgia.     

Search asymmetry, sustained attention, and response inhibition

In the present experiment, we used search asymmetry to test whether the sustained attention to response task is a better measure of response inhibition or sustained attention. Participants performed feature present and feature absent target detection tasks using either a sustained attention to response task (SART; high Go low No-Go) or a traditionally formatted task (TFT; high No-Go low Go) response format. In addition to performance, we employed functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure lateral cerebral oxygenation levels and self-reports of Tense Arousal, Energetic Arousal, task related and unrelated thoughts occurring during the tasks. Detections were lower and reaction times longer in the feature absent search than the feature present search regardless of response format. Detections were lower, but reaction times shorter in the SART than the TFT regardless of feature search. Greater right than left frontal hemisphere activation occurred in the SART than the TFT. In addition, the SART was more fatiguing based on self-reports than the TFT, but there were no differences in Task-Unrelated Thoughts across task conditions. Overall, the results suggest the SART places high response inhibition, not necessarily sustained attention, demands on participants.     

Positive affect increases cognitive control in the antisaccade task

To delineate the modulatory effects of induced positive affect on cognitive control, the current study investigated whether positive affect increases the ability to suppress a reflexive saccade in the antisaccade task. Results of the antisaccade task showed that participants made fewer erroneous prosaccades in the condition in which a positive mood was induced compared to the neutral condition (i.e. in which no emotional mood was induced). This improvement of oculomotor inhibition was restricted to saccades with an express latency. These results are in line with the idea that enhanced performance in the positive affect condition could be caused by increased dopaminergic neurotransmission the brain.     

Attachment‐style differences in the appraisal of the attachment figure

The present study investigated the distinctive effects of global and specific attachment styles on the processing of attachment‐figure cues, focusing specifically on the role of cognitive inhibition. We manipulated the temporal accessibility of specific attachment styles and measured automatic inhibitory processes using a negative affective priming (NAP) task presenting positive and negative words. We also measured one's explicit attitude towards the attachment figure. Results showed that specific, but not global, attachment styles influenced the processing of attachment‐figure cues. We also found that participants primed with a secure attachment style showed a better inhibition of negative traits than those primed with an insecure style. At the explicit level, the anxious attachment types showed a more negative evaluation of their attachment figure than primed secures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Latent inhibition is affected by phase of estrous cycle in female rats

Estrogen has been shown to have a strong modulatory influence on several types of cognition in both women and female rodents. Latent inhibition is a task in which pre-exposure to a neutral stimulus, such as a tone, later impedes the association of that stimulus with a particular consequence, such as a shock. Previous work from our lab demonstrates that high levels of estradiol (E2) administered to ovariectomized (OVX) female rats abolishes latent inhibition when compared to female rats with low levels of E2 or male rats. To determine if this E2-induced impairment also occurs with the natural variations of ovarian hormones during the estrous cycle, this behavior was investigated in cycling female rats. In addition, pre-pubertal male and female rats were also tested in this paradigm to determine if the previously described sex differences are activational or organizational in nature. In a latent inhibition paradigm using a tone and a shock, adult rats were conditioned during different points of the estrous cycle. Rats conditioned during proestrus, a period of high E2 levels, exhibited attenuated latent inhibition when compared to rats conditioned during estrus or metestrus, periods associated with low levels of E2. Moreover, this effect is not seen until puberty indicating it is dependent on the surge of hormones at puberty. This study confirms recent findings that high E2 interferes with latent inhibition and is the first to show this is based in the activational actions of hormones.