手的拦截运动的速度伴随效应及影响因素

对手的拦截运动的理论假设、速度伴随效应及其影响因素进行了总结和分析。指出:(1)“速度伴随效应”的机制可能在于补偿反应延迟、维持必需的注视时间、对即时运动信息的利用或时间-准确性权衡;(2)手的拦截运动指标受目标运动方向、先前任务、练习、目标大小、运动表征和策略以及双眼线索等因素的影响;(3)对拦截运动的进一步研究可在统一理论解释的基础上进行,克服研究方法和范围的局限。     

5～9岁儿童极限概念认知发展的实验研究

皮亚杰(1985)认为儿童非要到11或12岁时才能掌握极限的概念。这个观点十分让人感兴趣,然而在众多文献中却很难发现相关研究。本研究运用实验法研究了5、6、7、9四组儿童的极限概念。结果表明:儿童在极限概念的发展存在两个快速期,即5~6岁和6~7岁;5岁儿童处于极限概念萌芽状态,6岁儿童有了部分极限概念,7岁儿童极限概念有了进一步发展但不稳定;9岁儿童开始接近有了极限概念,但仍未到达完全理解。本研究结果支持了皮亚杰的相关观点。     

加工速度、工作记忆与数字推理能力的发展

本研究得出在数字推理能力的发展过程中加工速度和工作记忆发挥着重要的作用,其中工作记忆对数字推理能力的发展的作用大于加工速度。加工速度可能是年龄与工作记忆的中介,加工速度可能仅对工作记忆的发展起一种直接调节作用,工作记忆对数字推理能力的发展可能起直接调节作用,在数字推理能力的发展过程中工作记忆比加工速度可能发挥着更直接、更一般的作用。     

Are sluggish cognitive tempo symptoms associated with executive functioning in preschoolers?

The aim of this study is to investigate whether sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms are associated with neurocognitive task performance and ratings of real-world executive functioning (EF) in preschoolers at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The associations between parent- and teacher-rated SCT symptoms and neuropsychological task performance and ratings of EF in 61 4-year-old preschool children (51 boys, 10 girls) with self-regulation difficulties were examined, with regression analyses controlling for the effects of ADHD inattention symptoms. In the study sample, higher teacher-rated SCT symptoms are significantly associated with poorer performance on tasks of visual-perceptual abilities, auditory and visual attention, sustained and selective attention, inhibitory control, pre-numerical/numerical concepts, and slower processing speed, but SCT symptoms are not significantly associated with working memory, attention shifting or cognitive flexibility when controlling for ADHD inattention. Higher parent-rated SCT symptoms are significantly associated with visual-perceptual abilities. ADHD inattention symptoms are more strongly associated than SCT with daily life EF ratings; neither parent- nor teacher-rated SCT symptoms are significantly associated with daily life ratings of inhibition, working memory, or planning/organization after controlling for ADHD inattention. This study suggests that SCT symptoms contribute to EF deficits at least on neurocognitive tasks assessing visual-perceptual/spatial abilities, attention to detail and processing speed, as observed in this sample of young children at risk for ADHD, and may be an important intervention target.     

道德决策快的智能机器让人更信任：能力感知的中介作用

本研究旨在探究智能机器的道德决策速度是否以及如何影响人们对其的信任程度。研究分别以智能机器与人类为道德决策主体,采用2（决策速度）×2（决策内容）的被试间设计进行研究发现,对于智能机器和人类,道德性决策均会使人们对其信任,而快速道德决策提高了人们对智能机器的信任程度;此外,研究发现能力感知是智能机器道德决策速度影响人们对其信任程度的中介机制。研究表明人们对智能机器与人类的道德决策速度知觉存在差异。     

Auditory speed tasks as potential candidates for the study of cognitive ageing

Speed of information processing is an important cognitive ability. It facilitates the efficient operation of higher order cognitive functions, such as reasoning, and is implicated in various models of cognitive decline. The present study considers the potential benefits of expanding the measurement of processing speed to include the auditory modality. It examines the reliability and factorial structure of a variety of auditory and visual speed tasks in a sample of N = 138 older adults aged between 51 and 82 years. Our findings demonstrate that auditory measures can be used to assess processing speed as indexed by existing widely used tests of this ability. Moreover, the inclusion of auditory tasks significantly increases the relationship between processing speed and general cognitive ability. This novel research provides strong evidence of the suitability of auditory speed tasks for the study of cognitive function in older people, and demonstrates the importance of expanding cognitive measurement to include alternate modalities.     

Terminal decline of episodic memory and perceptual speed in a biracial population

We compared trajectories of terminal cognitive decline in older Black (n = 3372) and White (n = 1756) persons from a defined population who completed tests of episodic memory and perceptual speed at 3-year intervals for up to 18 years. During a mean of 9.9 years of observation, 1608 Black persons and 902 White persons died. Preterminal decline of episodic memory did not differ by race. Terminal episodic memory decline began earlier in Black persons (mean of 4.3 years before death) than in White persons (mean = 3.9 years) and progressed more slowly. By contrast, terminal decline of perceptual speed began earlier in White persons (mean = 5.0 years) than in Black persons (mean = 4.5 years). Rate of perceptual speed decline was more rapid in White persons than in Black persons in both the preterminal and terminal periods. The results indicate that terminal cognitive decline occurs in Black persons but suggest that the rate of cognitive decline during the terminal period is less rapid in Black persons than in White persons.     

Developmental differences in working memory: Where do they come from?

Several models assume that working memory development depends on age-related increases in efficiency and speed of processing. However, age-related increases in the efficiency of the mechanisms that counteract forgetting and restore memory traces may also be important. This hypothesis was tested in three experiments by manipulating both the processing duration within a working memory task and the time available to restore memory traces. Third- and sixth-grade children performed a complex span task in which they maintained series of letters while adding numbers to series of digits. When we equated processing and restoration times between ages, the developmental difference in working memory span was reduced but remained significant. However, this residual difference was eliminated when the time available to reactivate memory traces was tailored to the processing speed of each age group. This indicates that children employ active mechanisms for maintenance and restoration of memory traces that develop with age.     

Driving without awareness: The effects of practice and automaticity on attention and driving

This research examined the development of proceduralised “driving without awareness” in a driving simulator by paying participants to drive a simulated road regularly over 12 weeks of testing. This longitudinal research paradigm is a significant departure from previous studies which have examined drivers in a conscious attentional mode using short experimental sessions or cross-sectional designs comparing expert and novice performance. During each session, participants took two “trips” on the simulated road; sometimes travelling on a “to and from” journey on one half of the road, sometimes traversing the entire road in one direction. A range of measures, including driving performance, vehicle detection, perceptual speed regulation, and hazard reactions were collected. The results showed the development of driving patterns and changes in object detection performance indicative of proceduralised driving. Speed and lane position variability quickly decreased with practice, as did participants’ subjective experiences of driving difficulty. Performance on an embedded detection task appeared to become a proceduralised part of the driving task, becoming highly efficient in later stages of the experiment. The changes in attentional focus and driving performance over time provide new light on previous research findings and allow us to critically re-examine several established models of driver behaviour.