Mirror neurons and embodied simulation in the development of archetypes and self-agency

Abstract :  In this paper I explore the role of mirror neurons and motor intentionality in the development of self-agency. I suggest that this will also give us a firmer basis for an emergent view of archetypes, as key components in the development trajectory of self-agency, from its foundation in bodily action to its mature expression in mentalization and a conscious awareness of intentionality. I offer some ideas about the implications of these issues of self-agency for our clinical work with patients whose developmental trajectory of self-agency has been partially inhibited, so that their communications have a coercive effect. I discuss the possibility that this kind of clinical phenomenon may relate to Gallese and Lakoff's hypothesis that abstract thought and imagination are forms of simulated action, and that the same sensory-motor circuits that control action also control imagination, concept formation and understanding, but with a crucial development, that of an inhibition of the connections between secondary pre-motor cortical areas and the primary motor cortex. I shall speculate that in the earlier developmental stages of self-agency, the separation of secondary from primary motor areas is not complete, so that imagination and thought are not entirely independent of physical action.     

具身认知观对语言理解的新诠释——心理模拟:语言理解的一种手段

具身认知观(Embodied Cognition)试图对心-身-世界之间的交互方式给予系统的理论说明,主张:"认知是一种高度具身的、情景化的活动"(Micheal L.Anderson,2004);认知是从身体与环境的相互作用中产生的,依赖于某种类型的经验。从具身认知观来看,心理模拟是语言理解的一种手段,通过再入情景(re-situating)来实现。本文根据上述逻辑考察了词、句、语篇不同信息加工层面的实验研究进展,证实了人们在语言加工过程中感知、肌肉运动以及其他的经验印痕被激活,支持了语言理解是运动感觉以及其他相关经验的心理模拟过程。这种语言理解的心理模拟需要人们再入情景,与已有的听读说写的语言经验发生共鸣,从而为语言理解提供了新的诠释,丰富和发展了认知语言学的理论与实践。     

时间隐喻在时刻水平上的表盘模拟表征

探讨时间隐喻在时刻水平上的表盘模拟表征。包括两个实验,实验1考察静态的时刻表征是否依赖表盘模拟,对时针和分针的表征是否会有差异;实验2通过加工不同的时刻变化及对旋转图形的判断,考察动态时刻的加工是否产生表盘指针的旋转模拟。结果表明,具体时刻的时间隐喻模式表现为表盘模拟,不同于年、月、日等时间的直线型的时间隐喻;加工变化的时刻是以心理旋转的方式进行的,这种加工方式会影响空间知觉。     

The Effect of Intra- and Intergroup Leadership on Group Goal Attainment in a North-South Gaming Simulation

This research investigated the role of leadership functions in a context of intergroup negotiation by using a simulation game of inter-regional conflict and cooperation (SIRC²). As a part of their social psychology course, 151 undergraduate students participated. It was hypothesized that there are four leadership factors in an intergroup context: in-group performance, in-group maintenance, out-group negotiation performance, and out-group relation maintenance. According to a factor analysis, however, the functions of in-group performance and out-group performance merged into the same category and could not be differentiated independently. Moreover, this research provided evidence that opportunities for intergroup communication and the amount of resources available to each group can facilitate these leadership functions. This study also found links between leadership functions and group outcomes. In a group with members who were homogeneous and facing common survival problems, the in-group/out-group performance function facilitated the achievement of the group goal. On the other hand, in a group with members with different roles, and who were self-sufficient for survival, the in-group maintenance function facilitated the achievement of the group goal. Moreover, in the intergroup context, the out-group relationship maintenance function was also important for group goal attainment. These results were interpreted using the path–goal theory and Fiedler's contingency theory.     

Children's creation of algorithms: simulations and gestures

Experiments showed that children are able to create algorithms, that is, sequences of operations that solve problems, and that their gestures help them to do so. The theory of mental models, which is implemented in a computer program, postulates that the creation of algorithms depends on mental simulations that unfold in time. Gestures are outward signs of moves and they help the process. We tested 10-year-old children, because they can plan, and because they gesture more than adults. They were able to rearrange the order of 6 cars in a train (using a siding), and the difficulty of the task depended on the number of moves in minimal solutions (Experiment 1). They were also able to devise informal algorithms to rearrange the order of cars when they were not allowed to move the cars, and the difficulty of the task depended on the complexity of the algorithms (Experiment 2). When children were prevented from gesturing as they formulated algorithms, the accuracy of their algorithms declined by13% (Experiment 3). We discuss the implications of these results.     

情节模拟对预期伴侣反应性及依恋安全感的影响

当依恋对象不在身边时,个体可以通过内部表征的方式通达依恋对象的可得与反应性,获得依恋安全感。然而,现有研究对内部表征通达途径的考察忽略了情节模拟的作用。该研究采用实验组控制组前后测设计,考察是否可以通过依恋相关的情节模拟通达依恋对象的可得与反应性,帮助个体获得依恋安全感。研究招募正处于恋爱关系中且恋爱时长超过6个月的大学生46名。前测评定依恋相关的困境情境;3天后实验组被试进行依恋相关的情节模拟任务,控制组被试进行情境结果的撰写任务,并再次对情境进行评定。结果发现,相比于控制组,情节模拟组预期伴侣的反应性和依恋安全感有更大提升。以上的研究结果表明,依恋相关的情节模拟可以通达伴侣可得与反应性并帮助个体获得依恋安全感。     

语境与颜色诊断性对句子理解中物体隐含颜色知觉模拟的影响

具身认知理论的代表知觉符号系统认为知识表征具有知觉特点,并假设语言理解中对于所涉及概念及其隐含属性会即时进行知觉模拟。当前研究采用句图匹配范式,通过三个实验探讨句子理解中是否会对物体隐含颜色属性进行知觉模拟及其具体条件。实验1沿用经典范式验证语言理解中对物体隐含颜色存在知觉模拟过程。实验2通过变化句子前语境考察语境是否支持对于物体隐含颜色知觉模拟的影响。实验3进一步考察当颜色属性与其对应物体存在稳定关联时(即具有高颜色诊断性的物体),在不同语境作用下是否会引起知觉表征的变化。研究结果表明,语言理解中知觉模拟过程是灵活的,语境改变会引起读者所激活的物体颜色知觉表征发生变化,并且对于高颜色诊断物体,即使缺乏支持语境,读者仍然会对句中隐含的物体特定颜色进行知觉模拟。     

The modulation of stimulus structure on visual field asymmetry effects: The case of Chinese character recognition

Recent research suggests that visual field (VF) asymmetry effects in visual recognition may be influenced by information distribution within the stimuli for the recognition task in addition to hemispheric processing differences: Stimuli with more information on the left have a right VF (RVF) advantage because the left part is closer to the centre, where the highest visual acuity is obtained. It remains unclear whether visual complexity distribution of the stimuli also has similar modulation effects. Here we used Chinese characters with contrasting structures—left-heavy, symmetric, and right-heavy, in terms of either visual complexity of components or information distribution defined by location of the phonetic component—and examined participants' naming performance. We found that left-heavy characters had the largest RVF advantage, followed by symmetric and right-heavy characters; this effect was only observed in characters that contrasted in information distribution, in which information for pronunciation was skewed to the phonetic component, but not in those that contrasted only in visual complexity distribution and had no phonetic component. This result provides strong evidence for the influence of information distribution within the stimuli on VF asymmetry effects; in contrast, visual complexity distribution within the stimuli does not have similar modulation effects.     

Expertise and gambling: Using Type 2 signal detection theory to investigate differences between regular gamblers and nongamblers

This paper presents an experimental investigation into how individuals make decisions under uncertainty when faced with different payout structures in the context of gambling. Type 2 signal detection theory was utilized to compare sensitivity to bias manipulations between regular nonproblem gamblers and nongamblers in a novel probability-based gambling task. The results indicated that both regular gamblers and nongamblers responded to the changes of rewards for correct responses (Experiment 1) and penalties for errors (Experiment 2) in setting their gambling criteria, but that regular gamblers were more sensitive to these manipulations of bias. Regular gamblers also set gambling criteria that were more optimal. The results are discussed in terms of an expertise-transference hypothesis.