Age of acquisition ratings score better on criterion validity than frequency trajectory or ratings “corrected” for frequency

From the very first studies on the effect of age of acquisition (AoA) on word processing, researchers have validated their AoA ratings by correlating them with other, more objective indices of the age at which children know words. Still, the ratings have been questioned, and alternative measures have been proposed. Two of these are differences in word frequency between language directed at young children and language directed at older children (frequency trajectory) and AoA ratings corrected for word frequency. Surprisingly, the criterion validity of these alternative measures has never been established, partly because one of the validation criteria (the age at which children are able to name pictures) has been questioned. In the present study, four databases are used that aimed to establish the order of English word acquisition, going from the very first words learned to words taught in secondary education. The criteria for word knowledge included word production, multiple-choice questions about the meaning of the words, and teacher judgments about when words should be taught in the school curriculum. For all databases, the frequency trajectory correlated substantially less with the criterion than AoA ratings. For all but one, the same was true for AoA ratings “corrected” for other variables. On the basis of these findings, researchers should be cautious interpreting null effects with the “improved” variables as evidence against a genuine AoA effect.     

How does information from low and high spatial frequencies interact during scene categorization?

Current models of visual perception suggest that, during scene categorization, low spatial frequencies (LSF) are rapidly processed and activate plausible interpretations of visual input. This coarse analysis would be used to guide subsequent processing of high spatial frequencies (HSF). The present study aimed to further examine how information from LSF and HSF interact and influence each other during scene categorization. In a first experimental session, participants had to categorize LSF and HSF filtered scenes belonging to two different semantic categories (artificial vs. natural). In a second experimental session, we used hybrid scenes as stimuli made by combining LSF and HSF from two different scenes which were semantically similar or dissimilar. Half of the participants categorized LSF scenes in hybrids, and the other half categorized HSF scenes in hybrids. Stimuli were presented for 30 or 100?ms. Session 1 results showed better performance for LSF than HSF scene categorization. Session 2 scene categorization was faster when participants attended and categorized LSF than HSF scene in hybrids. The semantic interference of a semantically dissimilar HSF scene on LSF scene categorization was greater than the semantic interference of a semantically dissimilar LSF scene on HSF scene categorization, irrespective of exposure duration. These results suggest a LSF advantage for scene categorization, and highlight the prominent role of HSF information when there is uncertainty about the visual stimulus, in order to disentangle between alternative interpretations.     

Trouble articulating the right words: Evidence for a response‐exclusion account of distraction during semantic fluency

It is widely held that single‐word lexical access is a competitive process, a view based largely on the observation that naming a picture is slowed in the presence of a distractor‐word. However, problematic for this view is that a low‐frequency distractor‐word slows the naming of a picture more than does a high‐frequency word. This supports an alternative, response‐exclusion, account in which a distractor‐word interferes because it must be excluded from an articulatory output buffer before the right word can be articulated (the picture name): A high, compared to low, frequency word accesses the buffer more quickly and, as such, can also be excluded more quickly. Here we studied the respective roles of competition and response‐exclusion for the first time in the context of semantic verbal fluency, a setting requiring the accessing of, and production of, multiple words from long‐term memory in response to a single semantic cue. We show that disruption to semantic fluency by a sequence of to‐be‐ignored spoken distractors is also greater when those distractors are low in frequency, thereby extending the explanatory compass of the response‐exclusion account to a multiple‐word production setting and casting further doubt on the lexical‐selection‐by‐competition view. The results can be understood as reflecting the contribution of speech output processes to semantic fluency.     

青少年重复梦主题的调查研究

该文通过对615名青少年进行《重复梦调查问卷》、梦的态度量表、幸福感指数量表等三份问卷的调查,结果发现:1)青少年重复梦的发生频率较高,86.4%的青少年做过重复梦;2)青少年重复主题的梦是最普遍的,占总数的32.4%;3)重复梦的发生频率个体差异较大,难以发现固定规律;4)重复梦里的情绪多为负性的情绪,占58.4%,其中恐惧是重复梦中体验最多的情绪,占38.0%;5)青少年重复梦发生频率最高的两大主题就是被追赶和坠落;6)是否做过重复梦与梦的态度显著相关,现在还在做重复梦的群体对梦的态度最积极;7)有没有重复梦与个体的主观幸福感指数不存在显著相关。     

Attentional blink for acronyms: Effects of familiarity and pre‐exposure

Seventy‐two university students participated in one of two experiments in the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. Distractors were four‐letter non‐words, the first target (T1) was a four‐letter word, and the second target (T2) was a two‐four‐letter acronym that followed T1 at lags of 2, 3 and 5 items (Experiment 1) or lags of 3 and 5 items (Experiment 2). Familiar acronyms were identified better than unfamiliar acronyms. One pre‐exposure of acronyms in a rating task improved RSVP accuracy for familiar acronyms only (Experiments 1 and 2), whereas three pre‐exposures produced a benefit for unfamiliar acronyms and no significant additional benefit for familiar acronyms (Experiment 2). Thus a pre‐existing unitised memory representation, and a relatively recent access of this representation, enhanced target identification. The effects of pre‐exposure were more consistent with resource depletion than attentional filtering accounts of the attentional blink.     

词频、易接近性和词表序列成分对近因效应影响的实验研究

本研究目的探讨词频、易接近性和词表序列成分对近因效应的影响及其原因。两个实验以不同词频和不同易接近性的中文词为材料,运用直接自由回忆程序和操纵词表的组成成分,探讨近因效应的特点。实验结果表明：词频对近因效应的作用受词表序列成分的影响,对于纯的词表,高频词回忆的比例比低频词更高,对于混合词表,低频词回忆的比例比高频词更高,但是词的易接近性不影响近因效应且不受词表序列成分影响。文章最后对近因效应的性质进行了讨论。     

大学生词的获得年龄、熟悉度、具体性和词频效应的眼动研究

采用眼动实验方法,研究大学生词的获得年龄、熟悉度、具体性和词频四个变量在句子阅读中所产生的字词识别效应,以及效应作用的时间进程。对这四个变量与词阅读的首次注视时间、单一注视时间、凝视时间、总注视时间进行多元重复回归分析,结果发现,词频和熟悉度在词识别过程的所有方面都具有重要性,获得年龄对词识别的早期加工过程敏感,具体性对各个阶段的词识别影响不显著。     

Violence in sports and among sportsmen: a single or two‐track issue?

The object of this study is to find our whether there are differences between the forms of violence exerted by sportsmen and those represented within sports areas. Three hundred competitors from five sports disciplines (karate, basketball, table tennis, swimming and shooting) were approached and filled out a questionnaire. Results showed (1) sportsmen do not exert the same forms of violence depending on the sport and that there are similarities between the forms of violence in sports and those represented in the sporting field which supports the “homological assumption” [Bourdieu, 1979 ]; (2) the frequency and degree of the forms of violence relate to one another and differentiate sports significantly, thus confirming the influence of their level; and (3) a cross‐matching of the forms of violence and their level shows an uneven distribution of the sports in three “classes”. Therefore, these overall results show that the forms of violence, their frequency and their degree are particularly effective variables when accounting for differences in “relations” violence in sports and among sportsmen. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–10, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

高、低频汉字形音义激活的时间进程

采用基于字形的启动范畴判断任务,通过变化SOA和不同的启动类型,考察高、低频汉字形音义激活的相对时间进程。结果表明,高频汉字形音义激活的时间顺序为字形—字义—字音;低频汉字字形的激活在先,字音、字义的激活时间未能分开。这说明汉字的书面使用频率是影响汉字形、音、义激活时间进程的重要因素。本研究进一步支持了汉字形—音、形—义连接强度受汉字使用频率影响的观点。     

医患沟通对医生刻板印象表达的影响

从沟通频次与刻板印象传递性质的关系入手,以住院患者和尚未成为住院患者的大学生为被试,采用系列再生范式,利用10条4人再生链,探讨了医患沟通频次对医生刻板印象表达的影响。结果显示,与医生沟通频次高的住院患者在再生链的第2个位置传递医生的积极信息高于消极信息,但是经过4人的传递,住院患者对医生刻板印象信息的传递在积极信息与消极信息没有差异。而与医生沟通频次低的大学生在再生链的后期表现出传递医生消极信息的倾向。该结果表明：沟通频次能够调节有关医生的消极刻板印象的传递—与医生沟通频次高的群体在传递医生的刻板印象信息时,在传递的早期具有积极的倾向性;但经过多人传递之后,在效价方面已经没有倾向性;与医生沟通频次低的群体倾向于传递医生刻板印象的消极信息。