Lexicality, morphological structure, and semantic transparency in the processing of German ver-verbs: The complementarity of on-line and off-line evidence

Two types of experiments investigate the visual on-line and off-line processing of German ver-verbs (e.g., verbittern ‘to embitter'). In Experiments 1 and 2 (morphological priming), latency patterns revealed the existence of facilitation effects for the morphological conditions (BITTER-VERBITTERN and BITTERN-VERBITTERN) as compared to the neutral conditions (SAUBER-VERBITTERN and SÄUBERN-VERBITTERN). In Experiments 3 and 4 (rating tasks) participants had to judge whether the target (VERBITTERN) “comes from,” “contains a form of,” or “contains the meaning of” the root (BITTER) or the root+en substring (BITTERN). Taken together, these studies revealed the combined influence of the three factors of lexicality (real word status), morphological structure, and semantic transparency.     

图形推理任务中儿童策略获得的微观发展过程

运用微观发生学设计,对30名6岁儿童在矩阵填充任务中的策略获得过程进行了研究。结果发现:从策略获得的来源看,实验处理(教育干预)是图形推理策略获得的重要来源;从策略获得的个体差异看,儿童遵循的是学习领会或半学习领会的策略获得发展方式;从策略获得的路径看,快速组儿童在达到策略获得标准后正确率不高,而标准组和延迟组则能保持较高的正确率;从策略获得的速率看,在实验前3个阶段正确率有快速的变化,而到后期则保持正确率稳定不变。     

Processing of facial and non‐facial visual stimuli in 2–5‐year‐old children

The present experiments examined the degree to which analytic and holistic modes of processing play a role in the way 2–5‐year‐old children process facial and non‐facial visual stimuli. Children between 2 and 5 years of age were instructed to categorize faces (in Experiment 1) and non‐facial visual stimuli, such as birds and planes (in Experiment 2), into two categories. The categories were so constructed as to allow the children to categorize the facial and non‐facial stimuli either analytically (by focusing on a single attribute) or holistically (in terms of overall similarity). The results demonstrated that the previous conclusions concerning older children's (from 6 years onwards) holistic mode of facial processing could not be generalized to younger children because most of the 2–5‐year olds processed the faces by taking single facial attributes into account. A similar pattern of results emerged for the processing of objects, showing that the majority of the children focused on single attributes. Thus, for both visual domains, holistic processing was the exception rather than the rule. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

关于中日大学生精制化活动的比较研究

本研究以中日两国大学生为对象,针对精制化的有关问题进行了跨文化的比较研究。研究表明中国大学生在精制化三个因子的得分显著高于日本大学生;中国大学生的精制化活动表现出性别差异,其中女生比男生的精制化活动更为积极,但日本的大学生却无此种性别差异的表现。     

梦中脑内信息加工的讨论

用信息加工的观点讨论梦中脑内信息加工的特点 ,认为梦中脑内信息加工多数是浅的自动加工 ,既有串行加工又有并行加工 ,而进入梦境的信息是串行加工的。     

Personality traits of the behavioural approach and inhibition systems: associations with processing of emotional stimuli

This study examined the relationships of the traits associated with Gray's behavioural approach system (BAS) and behavioural inhibition system (BIS) with cognitive processing of emotional information. Initially, participants completed questionnaires covering trait impulsivity and anxiety, and BAS and BIS sensitivities. They were then tested individually. After completing a questionnaire of current positive and negative moods, they completed three tasks measuring processing of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral information. Consistent with Gray’s theory, the results showed that impulsivity and BAS sensitivity were associated with the processing of pleasant information, while anxiety and BIS sensitivity were associated with the processing of unpleasant information. These findings imply that Gray’s BAS–BIS theory can be extended to cognitive processing of emotional information.     

句子理解中抑制不同性质干扰信息的眼动

该研究采用眼动追踪技术和分心阅读范式考察了句子理解中的抑制过程,以及外在干扰信息的性质如何影响阅读中的抑制效率。研究结果发现语义相关干扰词比语义无关干扰词的阅读时间、注视时间更长,注视次数更多。语义无关干扰词比无意义字符串的注视时间更长、注视次数更多。该结果说明阅读过程中干扰信息越有意义,与目标句语义联系越紧密,则越容易被激活,抑制效率也就越低,符合Hasher等人提出的一般认知过程中抑制加工的原理。     

Will the Real Moral Judgment Please Stand Up?

The recent, influential Social Intuitionist Model of moral judgment (Haidt, Psychological Review 108, 814–834, 2001) proposes a primary role for fast, automatic and affectively charged moral intuitions in the formation of moral judgments. Haidt’s research challenges our normative conception of ourselves as agents capable of grasping and responding to reasons. We argue that there can be no ‘real’ moral judgments in the absence of a capacity for reflective shaping and endorsement of moral judgments. However, we suggest that the empirical literature indicates a complex interplay between automatic and deliberative mental processes in moral judgment formation, with the latter constraining the expression and influence of moral intuitions. We therefore conclude that the psychological literature supports a normative conception of agency.

Socially dependent auditory laterality in domestic horses (Equus caballus)

Laterality is now known to be an ubiquitous phenomenon among the vertebrates. Particularly, laterality of auditory processing has been demonstrated in a variety of species, especially songbirds and primates. Such a hemispheric specialization has been shown to depend on factors such as sound structure, species specificity and types of stimuli. Much less is known on the possible influence of social familiarity although a few studies suggest such an influence. Here we tested the influence of the degree of familiarity on the laterality of the auditory response in the domestic horse. This species is known for its social system and shows visible reactions to sounds, with one or two ears moving towards a sound source. By comparing such responses to the playback of different conspecific whinnies (group member, neighbor and stranger), we could demonstrate a clear left hemisphere (LH) preference for familiar neighbor calls while no preference was found for group member and stranger calls. Yet, we found an opposite pattern of ear side preference for neighbor versus stranger calls. These results are, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate auditory laterality in an ungulate species. They open further lines of thought on the influence of the social “value” of calls and the listener’s arousal on auditory processing and laterality.     

情绪加工老化效应的神经机制

行为学研究发现,老年人对消极情绪的辨别、注意和记忆都有所下降,而对积极情绪并未表现出类似的现象。情绪加工老化效应的神经影像学研究发现,老年人在情绪加工过程中边缘系统（尤其杏仁核）的激活强度低于年轻人,但额叶皮层区域的激活却有所增强。研究者对该结果提出了两种假说,一种是功能代偿假说,另一种是策略改变假说。功能代偿假说认为老年人额叶皮层区域的激活增强是为了弥补边缘系统功能的下降,反映了大脑功能的代偿;策略改变假说认为老年人主动使用了不同于年轻人的策略,情绪加工方式的不同导致了两组人群大脑活动的差异。未来这方面研究可以从研究层面、研究方法、研究问题等方面逐步完善