Age-related differences in reaction time task performance in young children

Performance of reaction time (RT) tasks was investigated in young children and adults to test the hypothesis that age-related differences in processing speed supersede a “global” mechanism and are a function of specific differences in task demands and processing requirements. The sample consisted of 54 4-year-olds, 53 5-year-olds, 59 6-year-olds, and 35 adults from Russia. Using the regression approach pioneered by Brinley and the transformation method proposed by Madden and colleagues and Ridderinkhoff and van der Molen, age-related differences in processing speed differed among RT tasks with varying demands. In particular, RTs differed between children and adults on tasks that required response suppression, discrimination of color or spatial orientation, reversal of contingencies of previously learned stimulus-response rules, and greater stimulus-response complexity. Relative costs of these RT task differences were larger than predicted by the global difference hypothesis except for response suppression. Among young children, age-related differences larger than predicted by the global difference hypothesis were evident when tasks required color or spatial orientation discrimination and stimulus-response rule complexity, but not for response suppression or reversal of stimulus-response contingencies. Process-specific, age-related differences in processing speed that support heterochronicity of brain development during childhood were revealed.     

When vaccinating against information reduction works and when it does not work

Practice not only affects how information is processed, but also which information is processed. The Information-Reduction Hypothesis (i.e. Haider & Frensch, 1996) holds that — with practice — irrelevant task information (i.e. information that is not logically needed to correctly perform the task) is discarded from processing. Recently, Gaschler and Frensch (2007) have demonstrated that Information Reduction is not affected by the frequency with which individual task configurations are presented: well-practiced and little-practiced irrelevant task configurations are discarded at the same point in time during practice; Information Reduction is thus an item-general phenomenon. These findings suggest that Information Reduction is at least in part a consequence of top-down, voluntary control. In the present research, we ask how tasks can be constructed such that Information Reduction is avoided. Our results show that item-general Information Reduction is observed even when it leads to severe processing costs (i.e. errors). On the whole, the present results are in line with models of skill acquisition incorporating top-down modulation (e.g. Haider & Frensch, 2002) and are incompatible with purely data-driven accounts of skill acquisition (e.g. Logan, 1988; Nosofski & Palmeri, 1997; Palmeri, 1997; Rickard, 2004).     

工作记忆负载对位置干扰子激活加工和抑制加工的影响

针对工作记忆（WM）负载对干扰子加工的影响存在认知控制机制和负载特异机制两种分歧观点的争议及Park等人的负载特异机制研究中存在的不足,文章尝试采用干扰效应和负启动效应双指标考察了三种不同类型的WM负载对位置干扰子加工的影响。结果表明,WM负载对位置干扰子加工的影响存在双重作用机制（认知控制机制和负载特异机制）;目标刺激与干扰子刺激的属性一致时,亦可得出负载特异机制观点,且可将WM任务与选择性注意任务之间竞争的资源锁定为知觉处理资源;导致上述两种观点争议的原因是以往研究未将干扰子加工过程分离为激活加工阶段和抑制加工阶段来考察;用双指标分离干扰子加工阶段的研究思路和方法不但可解决这两种观点的争议且可为两者的统合奠定基础。     

听觉警报失聪的认知因素

无意失聪是指当人们集中精神做事时,会忽略非预期的听觉刺激。这种现象在现实生活中普遍存在,它对航空和交通安全构成巨大威胁。研究者们发现高知觉和高认知负荷条件下个体会因认知资源有限导致无意失聪,且随着负荷增加,被忽略的听觉刺激诱发的早期（N100）和晚期（P300）神经活动有所减弱。这表明非预期听觉刺激可以进入晚期加工阶段,但其能否被感知可能取决于与工作记忆相关的额顶网络的抑制控制程度。而工作记忆容量及其负荷与无意失聪关系的现有研究结果之间还存在不一致性。未来研究可以将其范式和理论拓展到其他安全生产领域,并运用认知训练等方式规避无意失聪,从而减少人因失误。     

在亮度对比和颜色对比下立体视知觉的定量研究

研究了在亮度对比与等亮度颜色对比的条件下,受试者分辨随机点阵立体图对的立体视敏度（最小视差）．结果表明：（１）在亮度对比条件下,立体视敏度随对比度的增加而增加,１０％的对比度即可引起立体视知觉,对比度大于３０％时达到饱和;（２）在亮度对比与等亮度颜色对比两种不同的条件下,受试者的立体视敏度不存在有统计学意义的差异;（３）当双眼分别接受不同颜色的等亮度立体图刺激时,与亮度对比条件相比,受试者的立体视敏度无明显差异;（４）当受试者双眼分别接受由亮度对比和颜色对比形成的立体图刺激时,只有当颜色对比图中图形与背景间的对比度超过等亮度值３８％以上时,才能形成立体视知觉．以上结果提示,大、小细胞系统（包括斑点系统与斑点间系统）均参与立体视知觉信息的传递．     

Roles of cognitive load and self-relevance during emotional information searching on decision-making

Older adults have been found to favor positive stimuli over negative stimuli; further, developing a negative preference may be a cognitively demanding process. In the present study, we focused on the joint effects task self-relevance and cognitive load have on older adults' emotional information preferences when performing decision-making. To examine this, we used multi-attribute decision tasks and process-tracing procedure to measure their searching process. The study composed of a 2 (age: young/old) × 2 (cognitive load: load/non-load) × 3 (attribute valence: positive/neutral/negative) × 3 (task self-relevance: high/medium/low) mixed design. Sixty-one young adults and 62 older adults viewed 5 (alternatives) × 5 (attributes) decision matrices that contained positive, negative, and neutral information, with the total views and mean time spent viewing each different valence (positive, negative, and neutral information) set as dependent variables. The results indicated that both young and old adults have no emotional information preference in regard to self-relevance. When under no cognitive load, both positive and negative information were viewed more than neutral information; however, under cognitive load, preference for negative information decreased; this effect size was more robust in older adults. There was also a main effect of self-relevance on total views and mean checking time, with attributes concerning higher self-relevance tasks being more likely to attract attention. Older adults exhibited a consistent hedonic focus, even in highly self-relevant contexts; however, this effect disappeared under cognitive load. Overall, the findings suggest that cognitive resources play an important role in emotional information processing during decision processes.     

I Don't Like You Because You're Hard to Understand: The Role of Processing Fluency in the Language Attitudes Process

Two experiments examined the effects of processing fluency—that is, the ease with which speech is processed—on language attitudes toward native‐ and foreign‐accented speech. Participants listened to an audio recording of a story read in either a Standard American English (SAE) or Punjabi English (PE) accent. They heard the recording either free of noise or mixed with background white noise of various intensity levels. Listeners attributed more solidarity (but equal status) to the SAE than the PE accent. Compared to quieter listening conditions, noisier conditions reduced processing fluency, elicited a more negative affective reaction, and resulted in more negative language attitudes. Processing fluency and affect mediated the effects of noise on language attitudes. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.     

数字工作记忆广度的毕生发展及其作用因素

以10~90岁的1993名自愿者为被试完成该实验研究。结果表明：（1）在最简单的心算加工负荷下,数字工作记忆广度约为6±2;（2）在10至90岁范围内,测验的最高成绩在16~19岁组（即高中生组）,回归分析表明数字工作记忆广度随年龄的对数呈抛物线变化;（3）教育因素对成年人数字工作记忆广度的随龄化过程有重要作用;（4）与我们过去的研究结果相比较,发现数字工作记忆广度受心算加工负荷的影响显著     

关于高校多媒体教学影响因素的建模与分析

基于相关认知理论和前人研究结果建立了多媒体教学环境下教师授课、学生学习和学习绩效因素结构模型。采用问卷和量表法获取在杭6所高校的多媒体教学实践数据,验证性因素分析的结果证实了3个假设模型的适宜性和合理性。文章以所建的3个模型为框架,用多媒体学习认知理论和认知负荷理论分析了当前高校多媒体教学状况,并为高校多媒体教学发展提出了相应的心理学建议。     

Competence in Delivering Cognitive Processing Therapy and the Therapeutic Alliance Both Predict PTSD Symptom Outcomes

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is efficacious in treating PTSD, but there remains a need to improve outcomes for individuals who do not fully respond to treatment. Differences between patient-therapist dyads in the fidelity (i.e., adherence and competence) of CPT delivery and the quality of the therapeutic relationship may partly explain differential levels of symptom improvement. Sessions were sampled from a randomized trial comparing different consultation conditions in training therapists new to CPT. Among 69 patients, one session from Sessions 1–3 and one session from Sessions 4–7 were reliably rated for adherence and competence using the CPT Therapist Adherence and Competence Scale, and for therapeutic alliance using the Working Alliance Inventory-Observer scale. Mixed models, including detrending using a fixed effect of session, predicted self-reported Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-IV) scores in one session using process scores from the previous session. The statistical interaction between fidelity and alliance scores to predict outcome was also examined. Alliance had significant, positive correlations (rs = 0.18–0.21) with same-session adherence and competence. Higher competence scores and higher therapeutic alliance scores in one session were independently associated with lower PCL-IV scores in the subsequent session. Adherence scores, which tended to be very high with relatively less variability, did not significantly relate to subsequent-session PCL-IV scores. Competence significantly interacted with alliance, such that sessions high in both competence and alliance predicted especially lower subsequent-session PCL-IV scores. A strong therapeutic alliance may have a synergistic, salutary effect with the competent delivery of CPT.