Impact of induced joy on literacy in children: does the nature of the task make a difference?

This research examined whether induced joy influences fifth graders’ performance in literacy tasks. Children were asked to recall a joyful experience, used as a joy induction, before completing either a grammar (Study 1) or textual comprehension task (Study 2). The grammar task involved understanding at the surface level and retrieval of appropriate declarative and procedural knowledge, but limited elaboration unlike the textual comprehension task, which tackled inference generation. By differentiating tasks based on depth of processing required for completion we aimed at testing the validity of two concurrent hypotheses: that of a facilitating effect and that of a detrimental effect of induced joy. Compared to controls, joy induced children showed better performance on the grammar task – specifically children with lower language ability. No differences across groups emerged as a function of joy induction on the text comprehension task. Results are discussed with respect to emotion effects on cognition.     

在线抑制控制训练对失败的限制性饮食者不健康食物选择的改善

失败的限制性饮食者是进食障碍的高危人群,他们面对食物时的抑制控制能力通常很弱,从而更易发展为肥胖,所以改善失败的限制性饮食者对不健康食物的进食选择十分重要。本文采用在线停止信号任务,通过提高失败的限制性饮食者对不健康食物图片的抑制控制能力,从而减少他们在日常生活中对不健康食物的选择。首先对66名失败的限制性饮食者实施前测,然后随机分为对不健康食物图片进行抑制反应的干预组(n=33)和对非食物图片进行抑制反应的控制组(n=31),两组被试接受每天一次(每次10 min左右)共计7次的训练。完成训练后,所有被试均接受后测。结果发现,干预训练后,与控制组相比,干预组被试对不健康食物的选择频率以及对不健康食物自我报告的吸引力和喜爱程度均显著降低。     

部分线索对记忆提取的影响:认知抑制能力的作用

在回忆时,以刚刚学过的部分项目作为提取线索,被试的回忆成绩反而比没有任何线索时的回忆成绩差,这一现象被称为部分线索效应。该效应通常被认为是抑制执行控制过程对非线索项目记忆表征强度抑制的结果。本研究以Stroop效应量(实验1)和工作记忆容量(实验2)为指标,从个体差异角度考察了认知抑制能力对部分线索效应的影响。结果发现,Stroop效应量与部分线索效应各指标呈显著负相关,Stroop效应量越小,部分线索效应各指标的值越大;工作记忆容量与部分线索效应各指标呈显著正相关,高工作记忆容量个体的部分线索效应各指标的值也更大。结果表明,认知抑制能力越强,部分线索对回忆的破坏作用越大,研究结果支持部分线索效应的提取抑制假说。     

Because difficulty is not the same for everyone: the impact of complexity in working memory is associated with cannabinoid 1 receptor genetic variation in young adults

Individual differences in working memory ability are mainly revealed when a demanding challenge is imposed. Here, we have associated cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor genetic variation rs2180619 (AA, AG, GG), which is located in a potential CNR1 regulatory sequence, with performance in working memory. Two-hundred and nine Mexican-mestizo healthy young participants (89 women, 120 men, mean age: 23.26 years, SD?=?2.85) were challenged to solve a medium (2-back) vs. a high (3-back) difficulty N-back tasks. All subjects responded as expected, performance was better with the medium than the high demand task version, but no differences were found among genotypes while performing each working memory (WM) task. However, the cost of the level of complexity in N-back paradigm was double for GG subjects than for AA subjects. It is noteworthy that an additive-dosage allele relation was found for G allele in terms of cost of level of complexity. These genetic variation results support that the endocannabinoid system, evaluated by rs2180619 polymorphism, is involved in WM ability in humans.     

The effect of presentation rate on implicit sequence learning in aging

Implicit sequence learning is thought to be preserved in aging when the to-be learned associations are first-order; however, when associations are second-order, older adults (OAs) tend to experience deficits as compared to young adults (YAs). Two experiments were conducted using a first (Experiment 1) and second-order (Experiment 2) serial-reaction time task. Stimuli were presented at a constant rate of either 800 milliseconds (fast) or 1200 milliseconds (slow). Results indicate that both age groups learned first-order dependencies equally in both conditions. OAs and YAs also learned second-order dependencies, but the learning of lag-2 information was significantly impacted by the rate of presentation for both groups. OAs showed significant lag-2 learning in slow condition while YAs showed significant lag-2 learning in the fast condition. The sensitivity of implicit sequence learning to the rate of presentation supports the idea that OAs and YAs different processing speeds impact the ability to build complex associations across time and intervening events.     

因果信息在贝叶斯推理中的作用:问题情境的调节

以大学生为被试,考察因果信息在不同贝叶斯推理问题中的作用。结果表明:(1)问题情境的主效应显著(F(1,122)=16.33,p0.05,η~2=0.120),因果信息的主效应不显著((F(1,122)=1.161,p=0.283,η~2=0.01),但问题类型和因果信息的交互作用显著(F(1,122)=4.757,p0.05,η~2=0.038)。(2)不同类型的问题上因果信息的作用是不同的。具体表现为,在乳癌问题中,增加了因果信息,被试的正确率明显提高(χ~2(1)=6.759,p0.05,V=0.607),而在中彩问题中没有因果信息的推理成绩反而更好(χ~2(1)=1.864,p=0.221,V=0.167)。     

Distortions of temporal integration and perceived order caused by the interplay between stimulus contrast and duration

Stimulus contrast and duration effects on visual temporal integration and order judgment were examined in a unified paradigm. Stimulus onset asynchrony was governed by the duration of the first stimulus in Experiment 1, and by the interstimulus interval in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, integration and order uncertainty increased when a low contrast stimulus followed a high contrast stimulus, but only when the second stimulus was 20 or 30 ms. At 10 ms duration of the second stimulus, integration and uncertainty decreased. Temporal order judgments at all durations of the second stimulus were better for a low contrast stimulus following a high contrast one. By contrast, in Experiment 2, a low contrast stimulus following a high contrast stimulus consistently produced higher integration rates, order uncertainty, and lower order accuracy. Contrast and duration thus interacted, breaking correspondence between integration and order perception. The results are interpreted in a tentative conceptual framework.     

基于fNIRS的运动执行与运动想象脑激活模式比较

使用《运动想象问卷−修订版》筛选出的30名被试(男女各半), 采用功能性近红外光谱成像技术(fNIRS)监测被试在执行实际举哑铃(男生, 4磅和8磅; 女生, 2磅和4磅)任务和想象举同等重量哑铃任务时, 其大脑皮层氧合血红蛋白浓度的变化。结果发现：男女被试在运动执行与运动想象任务下都激活了主运动皮层; 且运动执行的大脑激活水平高于运动想象。在执行实际运动任务时, 运动强度显著影响大脑皮层血氧浓度的变化, 表现出左半球偏侧化优势; 在执行想象运动任务时, 运动强度没有影响大脑皮层血氧浓度的变化, 且无偏侧化现象。     

加工焦点性和任务负荷对不同认知方式大学生前瞻记忆的影响

采用双任务范式,探讨了加工焦点性和进行中任务负荷对不同认知方式大学生前瞻记忆的影响。包括两个实验:实验一探讨进行中任务与前瞻记忆任务加工的焦点性和加工类型的一致性对不同认知方式大学生前瞻记忆的影响;实验二探讨进行中任务负荷对不同认知方式大学生在在焦点加工和非焦点加工条件下前瞻记忆的影响。结果显示:焦点加工条件下的前瞻记忆成绩高于非焦点加工,且不受进行中任务负荷的影响;不管进行中任务与前瞻记忆任务的加工类型是否一致,在进行中任务负荷较高且非焦点加工条件下,场独立大学生的前瞻记忆成绩高于场依存大学生。本研究结果支持多重加工理论。     

意向保持间隔对时间性前瞻记忆的影响

通过两个实验来探讨意向保持间隔对时间性前瞻记忆的影响。实验一仅通过嵌入前瞻目标的背景任务来操纵保持间隔,实验二通过在背景任务之前加入不同时长的填充任务来改变意向保持间隔。结果发现,(1)背景任务中的保持间隔越长,前瞻记忆成绩越差;(2)背景任务中的保持间隔和填充任务的时长对前瞻记忆的影响存在交互作用。成绩最好的为15min-2min组,最差的为15min-15min组。结果表明,背景任务和填充任务阶段对于个体保持前瞻意向可能有不同的功能。