The spacing effect in children's memory and category induction

The spacing effect describes the robust phenomenon whereby memory is enhanced when learning events are distributed, instead of being presented in succession. We investigated the effect of spacing on children's memory and category induction. Three-year-old children were presented with two tasks, a memory task and a category induction task. In the memory task, identical instances of an object were presented and then tested in a multiple choice test. In the category induction task, different instances of a category were presented and tested in a multiple choice test. In both tasks, presenting the instances in a spaced sequence resulted in more learning than presenting the instances in a massed sequence, despite the difficulty created by the spaced sequence. The spaced sequence increased the difficulty of the task by allowing children time to forget the previous instance during the spaced interval.     

What you don’t know can’t hurt you: realism and the unconceived

Two of the most potent challenges faced by scientific realism are the underdetermination of theories by data, and the pessimistic induction based on theories previously held to be true, but subsequently acknowledged as false. Recently, Stanford (2006, Exceeding our grasp: Science, history, and the problem of unconceived alternatives. Oxford: Oxford University Press) has formulated what he calls the problem of unconceived alternatives: a version of the underdetermination thesis combined with a historical argument of the same form as the pessimistic induction. In this paper, I contend that while Stanford does present a novel antirealist argument, a successful response to the pessimistic induction would likewise defuse the problem of unconceived alternatives, and that a more selective and sophisticated realism than that which he allows is arguably immune to both concerns.

辅助生殖技术与女性生殖系统肿瘤的关系及其辩证思考

辅助生殖技术给不孕患者带来了希望,为肿瘤患者保留了生育能力,另一方面也可能导致女性生殖系统肿瘤和一系列伦理学问题。因此,用哲学的观点客观地看待辅助生殖技术与女性生殖系统肿瘤发生风险之间的关系,将有助于临床医生进一步提高辅助生殖技术安全性的认识,选择最佳的促排卵方案。     

知觉和概念信息对3岁儿童归纳推理的影响

采用经典的三角归纳范式(Gelman & Markman,1986)研究了3岁儿童的归纳推理及其影响因素。采用龙长权、路晓英、李红和范籍丹(2008)的研究中相同的实验材料和程序,测试了3岁儿童的归纳,结果表明3岁儿童基于知觉相似和基于概念类别之间的差异不显著(实验一)。增加了与靶刺激在知觉上不相似且不属于同一类别的分心刺激之后,3岁儿童能够忽略分心刺激,表明3岁儿童不是在随机猜测(实验二)。分类实验表明3岁儿童能够根据概念关系对实验材料中的项目进行分类,表明3岁儿童具有关于实验项目的概念知识(实验三)。提高概念比较刺激与靶刺激的知觉相似程度,降低知觉比较刺激和概念比较刺激与靶刺激在知觉相似上的冲突程度之后,3岁儿童基于知觉相似和基于概念类别选择之间的差异仍不显著,表明抑制控制不是导致儿童在实验一中表现出基于知觉相似和基于概念类别之间差异不显著的原因(实验四)。降低概念比较刺激与靶刺激之间的类别等级结构,使概念比较刺激与靶刺激属于相同的基本水平类别时,3岁儿童能够主要基于概念类别进行归纳(实验五)。增加经典三角测试的前提的数量,3岁儿童也能主要基于概念类别进行归纳(实验六)。这些研究表明,3岁儿童在一定条件下能够基于概念类别进行归纳,多个因素能够影响3岁儿童在三角测试中的表现。     

Hearing a melody in different ways: multistability of metrical interpretation, reflected in rate limits of sensorimotor synchronization

Music commonly induces the feeling of a regular beat (i.e., a metrical structure) in listeners. However, musicians can also intentionally impose a beat (i.e., a metrical interpretation) on a metrically ambiguous passage. The present study aimed to provide objective evidence for this little-studied mental ability. Participants were prompted with musical notation to adopt different metrical interpretations of a cyclically repeated isochronous 12-note melody while tapping in synchrony with specified target tones in the melody. The target tones either coincided with the imposed beat (on-beat tapping) or did not (off-beat tapping). An adaptive staircase method was employed to determine the fastest tempo at which each synchronization task could be performed. For each metrical interpretation, a significant advantage for on-beat over off-beat tapping was obtained - except in a condition in which participants, instead of synchronizing, were in control of the target tones. By showing that a self-imposed beat can affect sensorimotor synchronization, the present results provide objective evidence for endogenous perceptual organization of metrical sequences. It is hypothesized that metrical interpretation rests upon covert rhythmic action.     

From mere coincidences to meaningful discoveries

People's reactions to coincidences are often cited as an illustration of the irrationality of human reasoning about chance. We argue that coincidences may be better understood in terms of rational statistical inference, based on their functional role in processes of causal discovery and theory revision. We present a formal definition of coincidences in the context of a Bayesian framework for causal induction: a coincidence is an event that provides support for an alternative to a currently favored causal theory, but not necessarily enough support to accept that alternative in light of its low prior probability. We test the qualitative and quantitative predictions of this account through a series of experiments that examine the transition from coincidence to evidence, the correspondence between the strength of coincidences and the statistical support for causal structure, and the relationship between causes and coincidences. Our results indicate that people can accurately assess the strength of coincidences, suggesting that irrational conclusions drawn from coincidences are the consequence of overestimation of the plausibility of novel causal forces. We discuss the implications of our account for understanding the role of coincidences in theory change.     

The influence of induced mood on the inhibition of emotional information

The ability to inhibit affective information plays a major role in efficient cognitive processing. In this study the effect of mood induction on inhibitory processing of emotional material was investigated. In Experiment 1, performance on a negative affective priming task (NAP) following negative and positive mood induction (MIP) was compared to a neutral mood condition. Results revealed that, as compared with the neutral mood condition, inhibitory function for affective material was unaffected by negative MIP. However, after the positive MIP, inhibitory processes were significantly impaired. In Experiment 2, we replicated and extended the findings on positive affect and inhibition. The data concerning positive mood fit with the general findings that positive mood often leads to a “loose, flexible” processing mode. The null-finding concerning negative mood and inhibition is discussed in the light of research on inhibition in depression.     

Categorization and affect: evidence for intra-hemispheric interactions

Both emotional reactivity and categorization have long been studied within the framework of hemispheric asymmetry. However, little attempt has been made to integrate both research areas using any form of neuropsychological research, despite behavioral data suggesting a consistent relationship between affective and categorization processes. The primary goal of the current study was to examine the possibility of a laterally mediated interaction between emotional reactivity and the cognitive process of categorization. Using a split visual fields categorization task combined with affect inducing procedures, we hypothesized that the relationship between state affect and categorization would be dependent on the nature of state affect and on the hemisphere targeted. Results offered support for this hypothesis, showing that state affect related changes in categorization appeared only in the hemisphere commonly associated with both a specific affective state and categorization strategy employed. Findings are discussed in terms of possible evidence for a hemispheric arousal effect underlying the relationship between affect and categorization.     

Development of chromatic induction in infancy

The perception of colour in an embedded field is affected by the surround colour. This phenomenon is known as chromatic induction. In the present study we investigated whether the colour perception by infants aged 5–7 months could be affected by the surround colour. In Experiments 1 and 2 each stimulus was composed of an array of six squares in tandem. The colour appearance of the array in the familiarization stimulus was established by chromatic induction. In Experiment 1 we used familiarization stimuli that were perceived as two‐colour array with a two‐colour surround. In Experiment 2 we used a familiarization stimulus that was perceived as a uniform‐colour array with a two‐colour surround. In the test phase, the uniform‐colour array and the two‐colour array were presented on a white uniform‐colour surround in both experiments. The results showed that in Experiment 1 the 5‐ and 7‐month‐old infants had novelty preference for the uniform‐colour test array. This suggested that the infants' colour perception could be affected by surround colour. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the 7‐month‐olds showed a novelty preference for the two‐colour test array, but the 5‐month‐olds showed no novelty preference. This suggested that 7‐month‐olds' colour perception could be affected by surround colour, but that of 5‐month‐olds could not. We discuss the contradiction of the results between Experiments 1 and 2. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

归类不确定时样例代表性对特征归纳预测的影响研究

作者用以大学生被试的一个实验考察归类不确定情景下样例的代表典型性对特征归纳预测的可能影响。实验结果表明,预测特征相对于目标特征的综合条件概率影响特征归纳预测,而样例的代表典型性并不影响特征归纳预测,没有出现样例的代表典型性效应。预测特征综合条件概率策略能预测解释这种结果。