Spatial attentional distribution is modulated by head direction during eccentric gaze

Visual perception during eccentric gaze can be facilitated when a visual stimulus appears in front of the head direction. This study investigated the relative effects of gaze location and head direction on visual perception in central and peripheral vision. Participants identified the orientation of a T-shaped figure presented in the centre of a monitor and simultaneously localised a dot appearing in the periphery, while head direction relative to gaze location was to the left, right or centre. Effects of head direction were found only when the dot appeared far from the gaze fixation point, such that dot detection was superior when it appeared to the left (right) of fixation in the left (right) head direction. Experimental results indicated this was not due to a small shift of gaze location. Thus this study suggests that head direction influences visual perception particularly in peripheral vision where visual acuity decreases.     

论"心理模块性"研究的理论心理学意义

对西方近20年的“心理模块性”研究作了整体上的理论考察,着重分析了这一研究对于改变心理学的传统观念以及发展理论心理学的实际意义。考察表明,心理模块性研究有可能或正在形成一种崭新的心理学观或范式。     

Queuing or sharing? A critical evaluation of the single-bottleneck notion

The model of a single central bottleneck for human information processing is critically examined. Most evidence cited in support of the model has been observed within the overlapping tasks paradigm. It is shown here that most findings obtained within that paradigm and that were used to support the model are also consistent with a simple resource model. The most prominent findings are the millisecond-for-millisecond slope at the left of the RT2-SOA curve, the high RT1-RT2 correlation, the additivity of the effects on RT2 of SOA and of the difficulty of selecting R2, and the washout of the effect of S2 discriminability on RT2 in a dual-task condition. In addition, the asymmetry of the effects of the dual-task requirement on RT1 and RT2 can be accounted for by the resource model provided that it assumes uneven allocation of resources, which is quite reasonable in view of the task asymmetry inherent in the demand characteristics of the paradigm. The same is true for two other findings that appear to support the single-bottleneck model-that in the dual-task condition, the demand of the first task affects equally RT1 and RT2 and that its effect on RT1 is the same as the corresponding effect in the single-task condition. Furthermore, the single-bottleneck model is hard to reconcile with a negative slope at the left of the RT1-SOA curve or a positive slope at the left of the IRI-SOA curve, unless augmented by ancillary assumptions that are yet to be substantiated. Representative data were fit by each of the models using its optimal set of parameters. Both models achieved quite good degrees of fit. It is further argued that since the overlapping tasks paradigm is heavily biased in favor of a speedy reaction to the stimulus that appears first, it is nonoptimal for testing the central bottleneck model. Finally, the bottleneck model is examined in terms of other scientific criteria.     

Centrality ratings,forensic relevance,and production frequency: Which one best identifies central and peripheral items?

Production frequency has often been used to identify central and peripheral information, under the assumption that high frequency implies that the item is central. However, no research to date has tested the relationship between centrality and frequency. Participants watched a video of a bank robbery and completed a free recall test, from which frequency for recalled items was computed. Two groups then watched the same video and rated centrality and forensic relevance for each item. Results showed that most, but not all, items with high frequency were rated as central and forensically relevant but that low frequency items were not diagnostic of either item centrality or forensic relevance. Forensic relevance was a better indicator of item centrality than frequency. We concluded that frequency measures should be avoided to determine centrality. Also, if centrality ratings cannot be collected, forensic relevance ratings may be more appropriate for this purpose.     

Good writers,bad Jews: the “Jewish Question” among Hungarian Jewish intellectuals of the interwar period

This paper investigates the perceived place of the Jewish writer in interwar Hungarian Jewish literature. Post-World War I Hungary suffered from the effects of a short-lived communist regime, and the Trianon Treaty by losing two-thirds of its territories and more than half of its population. Though previously Jewish communities had thrived in the country, these events caused resentment that manifested itself in the creation of anti-Semitic laws in 1920. Within this new context, assimilated liberal young Jewish writers posed the question of “what is a Jew,” reflecting on their Jewishness and Hungarianness at the same time and pondering about the value of each. They answered the question in their creative works, where they indirectly explored issues such as whether Jews are able to write Hungarian novels or whether only a Hungarian can do so; whether Jewish Hungarians could write Hungarian Jewish novels; whether Hungarianness and Jewishness are compatible or whether writing literature is preconditioned on identity. Through the lens of Aladár Komlós, this paper examines the way in which liberal and assimilated young Hungarian Jewish writers interpreted their place in Hungarian culture and society within the framework of these questions.     

Efficacy of standard deviational ellipses in the application of criminal geographic profiling

The premise for this study is that the physical and cultural landscape has a deterministic effect on the location and distribution of serial crime. As a consequence, the distribution of linked crime scenes should exhibit a shape and orientation that is consistent with the underlying landscape. Geographic Profiling models that are able to account for these effects will provide more accurate results than those models that do not. Utilizing basic geographic principles of central tendency and spatial diffusion, this research first analyzed the output of circular and elliptical profile models generated for 30 serial burglaries (n = 164) and 67 serial robberies (n = 370) in Baltimore, Maryland between 1994 and 1997. A comparative analysis of the model output reveals that the Standard Deviational Ellipse is significantly (p = 0.000) better able to predict the home location of a serial offender than profiles generated from circles. Next, the relationship between the orientation of elliptical profiles and the mean linear orientation of the corresponding landscape was assessed to reveal a moderate but significant correlation (r = 0.511, p < 0.001). Together, these findings demonstrate that landscape does impact the locations of crime, and is a measurable parameter that can improve the efficacy of geographic profiling. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

工作记忆在简单指数乘法等式判断中的作用

选择大学二年级数学系的学生作为被试,要求他们完成控制条件、语音任务、手动任务和随机间隔决策任务条件下的简单指数乘法等式判断任务,实验结果表明：（1）三种次级任务在真假等式判断的反应时上的干扰效应非常显著;（2）三种次级任务显著增加了假等式判断的错误率,但没有显著增加真等式判断的错误率。这说明,语音环路、视空间模板和反应选择成分参与简单指数乘法等式判断,而且真假等式判断具有不同的注意资源需求。     

自我肯定研究述评

自我肯定是指通过肯定与威胁信息无关领域的自我价值,来维持自我整体性,从而降低防御反应。它可以通过完成自我价值观量表、描述重要的个人价值等方式来进行实验操纵。经过自我肯定的个体能更加客观、公正地处理威胁自我认同和群体认同的信息,促进个体的成长。这些作用可能是通过系统地思考说服信息的中央路径的认知加工来实现的。在未来的研究中,对个体最重要价值威胁情况下的自我肯定效应、自我肯定效应的多种机制的共同作用、自我肯定效应与群体肯定效应的区分以及自我与群体肯定效应的跨文化比较等方面还有待进一步的研究。     

中央执行注意资源在消极和积极特征捆绑中的作用

鉴于以往研究未明确视觉工作记忆中特征捆绑是否需要注意资源,以及未考察积极加工条件下的特征捆绑等问题,本研究运用双任务干扰范式,通过两个实验分别在消极加工和积极加工条件下考察了联结客体的特征加工和特征捆绑,以及中央执行注意资源在特征捆绑中的作用。结果表明：联结客体的特征加工不但存在双重存储机制,还存在双重操作机制,这一结果拓展了Wheeler和Treisman（2002）的特征捆绑理论;联结客体的特征捆绑可分为消极特征捆绑和积极特征捆绑两种类型,消极特征捆绑不需要中央执行注意资源的参与,而积极特征捆绑则需要中央执行注意资源的参与。     

Aggressive behavior induced by electrical stimulation in the midbrain central gray of male rats

Electrical stimulation via electrodes implanted in the lateral hypothalamus may induce intraspecific aggressive behavior. Small electrolytic lesions placed via these electrodes resulted in a five– to tenfold increase in the current threshold for aggression. Degenerating fibers were stained by means of the Fink-Heimer method and could be followed caudally to the dorsal midbrain central gray and to the mammillary bodies. A few axons could be traced rostrally to the medial septum. Aggression could be induced from 10 of 112 electrodes implanted in the central gray; the other electrodes elicited either locomotion, vocalization, jump, or “alarm-like reactions.” The morphology of the induced aggression was similar to the morphology of the hypothalamically induced aggression, though it was often accompanied with motor disturbances and was less intense. Hypothalamic stimulation was combined with simultaneous central gray stimulation in rats with electrodes both in the hypothalamus and in the central gray. Hypothalamic thresholds for aggression could be lowered by this stimulation of the central gray, even when no aggressive responses were observed during central gray stimulation alone. This suggests that, although aggression is not manifest, electrical stimulation may activate neural tissue involved in aggressive behavior. It is concluded that in rats central gray and hypothalamus are part of the same neural network mediating intraspecific aggression.