ERP evidence for task modulations on face perceptual processing at different spatial scales

Does the perceptual processing of faces flexibly adapt to the requirements of the categorization task at hand, or does it operate independently of this cognitive context? Behavioral studies have shown that the fine and coarse spatial scales of a face are differentially processed depending on the categorization task performed, thus suggesting that the latter can influence stimulus perception. Here, we investigated the time course of these task influences on perceptual processing by examining the visual N170 face‐sensitive Event‐Related Potential (ERP), while observers categorized faces for their gender and familiarity. Stimuli were full spectrum, or filtered versions that preserved either coarse or fine scale information of the faces. Behavioral results replicated previous findings of a differential processing of coarse and fine spatial scales across tasks. In addition, the N170 amplitude was larger in the Gender task as compared to the Familiarity task for LSF faces exclusively, thus showing that task demands differentially modulated the spatial scale processing on faces. These results suggest that the diagnosticity of scale‐specific cues in categorization tasks can modulate face processing.     

EFFECTS OF CONTINGENT REWARD AND INSTRUCTION ON ORAL READING PERFORMANCE AT DIFFERING LEVELS OF PASSAGE DIFFICULTY

This study examined the effects of reinforcement contingencies designed to increase the performance of existing reading skills as well as the effects of instruction—modeling and practice—designed to increase skill level for oral reading fluency across three levels of reading materials. Results showed that a combination of contingencies, modeling, and practice was effective in producing substantial increases in reading fluency for all participants at their assigned grade levels. These results demonstrate one strategy for experimentally determining those instructional components that are required to increase oral reading rate.     

Bullying and harassment at work and their relationships to work environment quality: An exploratory study

Team-based working has become a popular model of work organization. One of the expected yields of working in teams is collective learning. As team members work closely together they are likely to exchange information, which can enhance learning. One of the processes that may facilitate team learning is team conflict. In this study, 471 respondents, working in 84 teams in 38 organizations, indicated their perceptions of task conflict, relationship conflict, team learning, and their rating of the performance of the team. Task conflict was not related to team learning but was negatively related to the team members' rating of team performance. As was hypothesized, relationship conflict negatively affected team learning. Importantly, team learning was a strong predictor of the perceived team performance and partially mediated the relation between relationship conflict and performance.     

ATTACHMENT IN INFANTS WITH CLEFT LIP AND/OR PALATE: MARGINAL SECURITY AND ITS CHANGES OVER TIME

This study examines the attachment quality and how this changed over time among infants who had cleft lip and palate (CLP), by conducting a prospective longitudinal study addressing the effects of this type of perinatal event on the parent–infant relationship and the emotional development of the infants. At 12 months of age, the Strange Situation Paradigm (SSP; M. Ainsworth, M.C. Blehar, E. Waters, & T. Wall, 1978) was administered to a sample of 38 CLP infants (born between 2003 and 2010) and 17 healthy controls. At 4 years of age, the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT; I. Bretherton, D. Ridgeway, & J. Cassidy, 1990) was administered to 32 individuals from the CLP sample and 14 from the control group. As reported in the literature, CLP infants display secure attachment behaviors as frequently as do control infants (55%). However, a more detailed analysis of the attachment scales revealed that CLP infants show more avoidance and less proximity seeking. In addition, a closer examination of the subcategories of attachment styles revealed that most CLP infants (71%) displayed distal attachment strategies such as the B1/B2 or A1/A2 subcategories. At 4 years old, CLP infants clearly displayed more deactivation and less security than did the control sample. Moreover, when detailing the evolution of attachment individually, almost 60% of the CLP children showing distal strategies at 12 months became deactivated or disorganized when they reached 4 years. Indeed, subtle differences in attachment behaviors at 12 months old—which can be considered marginally secure at that age—may reveal attachment vulnerabilities, which seem to be more apparent over the course of development.     

高难度材料的元记忆监测更受记忆广度的制约

以不同难度(有、无意义联系)的两种中文词对为记忆材料,随机选取在校大学生200名,采用经典的回忆-判断-再认(recall-judgement-recognition,RJR)范式,考察短时记忆广度和一般自我效能感对个体在不同难度材料上元记忆监测的影响。结果发现,相比于无意义联系的材料,个体在有意义联系的材料上,JOL、FOK和JOC判断等级更高,线索回忆测验成绩更好。但是,个体在不同材料上的JOL判断和线索回忆受短时记忆广度的调节。不同短时记忆广度的个体在有意义联系材料上的JOL判断等级和线索回忆测验成绩无显著差异,但是在无意义联系材料上,高短时记忆广度个体的JOL判断等级和线索回忆测验成绩均显著高于低短时记忆广度个体。同时,相关分析结果也发现,相比于低短时记忆广度的个体,高短时记忆广度的个体,其线索回忆测验成绩和再认测验成绩与JOL、FOK和JOC判断等级之间更加相关。实验结果表明,作为一种人格变量,一般自我效能感对个体元记忆监测的影响可能并不明显。而短时记忆广度,很大程度上反映了个体的记忆能力,是个体元记忆监测的一个重要影响因素,尤其是对难度较大的材料。     

Younger and older adults’ prospective memory: the role of delay task difficulty

ABSTRACT

There is mixed evidence on the impact of delay task difficulty on prospective memory (PM) performance and little research has examined this among older adults. The present study examined younger (N = 60) and older (N = 57) adults’ prospective memory (PM) performance after completing an easy or difficult Raven’s matrices task. To assess whether delay difficulty impacted how often participants thought about their PM intention, participants were asked to report on what they thought about during the delay task itself and retrospectively after all tasks were completed. Younger adults outperformed older adults on the PM task; however, delay task difficulty had no impact PM for either age group. Reports of thinking about the intention during the delay task differed by age group depending whether they were online or retrospective, however, overall greater reports of thinking about the intention was positively associated with PM performance.     

Conscious contents as reflexive processes: Evidence from the habituation of high-level cognitions

Reflexes are often insuppressible, predictable, and susceptible to external control. In contrast, conscious thoughts have been regarded as whimsical, ‘offline,’ and shielded from external control. Recent advances suggest that conscious thoughts are more reflex-like and susceptible to external control than previously thought. In one paradigm, high-level conscious thoughts (subvocalizations) are triggered by external control, as a function of external stimuli and experimenter-induced action sets. It has been hypothesized that these conscious contents are activated involuntarily and in a reflex-like manner. If such is the case, then these activations should possess a well-known property of the reflex: habituation. Accordingly, we found that involuntary high-level cognitions (subvocalizations) habituated (i.e., were less likely to arise) after repeated stimulation. As in the case of the habituation of a reflex, this novel effect was stimulus-specific. We discuss the implications of this finding for theories about consciousness and about psychopathological phenomena involving undesired, involuntary cognitions.     

International Semiotics: Item Difficulty and the Complexity of Science Item Illustrations in the PISA-2009 International Test Comparison

We examined multimodality (the representation of information in multiple semiotic modes) in the context of international test comparisons. Using Program of International Student Assessment (PISA)-2009 data, we examined the correlation of the difficulty of science items and the complexity of their illustrations. We observed statistically significant mean correlation coefficient differences favoring higher-ranking over lower-ranking jurisdictions and non-Western over Western jurisdictions. We examined this correlation as a function of the variety of forms of representation of information used in illustrations. For the highest-ranking jurisdictions, the correlation tended to be positive and its magnitude tended to increase with the number of forms of representation. For the lowest-ranking jurisdictions, the correlation tended to be negative and its magnitude tended to increase with the number of forms of representation. Increased illustration complexity appears to be an affordance in making sense of science items for students from the highest-ranking jurisdictions and a challenge for students from the lowest-ranking jurisdictions. Our findings support the notion that integrating information provided in multiple semiotic modes is critical to science achievement and underscore the importance for science standards and international assessment frameworks to address this skill as intrinsic to (rather than an aspect of) science proficiency.