内外向者幽默加工进程差异:ERP研究

本研究采用事件相关电位技术(ERP),探究幽默的加工进程及内外向者在加工进程中的差异。研究以笑话为实验材料,要求被试先浏览背景信息和妙句结尾,然后评估先后呈现的文字材料的关系。行为结果:内向者的反应时显著短于外向者。ERP结果:(1)幽默加工过程包括不一致探测阶段、不一致消解阶段和情绪加工阶段。(2)不一致无关的N400波幅显著大于一致不可笑;不一致无关的P600波幅显著小于不一致可笑和一致不可笑;800ms之后不一致可笑引发了比一致不可笑和不一致无关更大的正波幅。(3)内外向者在幽默加工进程上的差异主要体现在幽默加工阶段的早期。与内向者相比,外向者在幽默不一致探测阶段所用的认知资源较少,加工的自动化程度较高。     

他人财富情绪:妒忌的社会评估比较与认知加工分析

妒忌是指意识到自己缺乏他人更优越的品质、成就或所有物而产生的自卑、敌意和怨恨等混合情绪,妒忌者渴望得到妒忌目标的优势或希望妒忌目标失去优势。作为一种指向他人财富的复杂情绪,善意妒忌和恶意妒忌会引发不同的行为结果,这主要取决于个体对他人财富的认知评估过程。妒忌通常由向上的社会比较而产生,社会事件应得性、主观公平感、核心自我评价等认知都会对妒忌产生影响。本文从社会比较判断、认知加工过程和神经生理功能等角度来分析妒忌的产生过程和认知机制。基于现有不足,未来的研究可以在妒忌情绪的发展特征、妒忌体验的测量方法和妒忌功能的分化等方面进一步完善。     

The effects of direction similarity in visual working memory: Behavioural and event-related potential studies

Object similarity can improve visual working memory (VWM) performance in the change-detection task, but impair the recognition performance when it occurs at retrieval of VWM in the recognition task. The effect of direction similarity is an issue that has not been well resolved. Furthermore, electrophysiological evidence in support of the mechanisms that underlie the effects of similarity is still scarce. In the current study, we conducted three behavioural experiments to examine the effects of direction similarity on memory performance with regard to both the encoding and retrieval phases of VWM and one event-related potential (ERP) experiment to explore the neural signatures of direction similarity in VWM. Our behavioural studies indicated that direction similarity improved performance when it occurred at the encoding phase but impaired performance when it occurred at the retrieval phase. Moreover, the ERP experiment showed that the amplitude of the contralateral delay activity (CDA) increased with the increasing set size for similar but not dissimilar directions. In addition, the CDA amplitude for similar directions was lower than that for dissimilar directions at set size 2. Taken together, these findings suggest that direction similarity at encoding has a positive effect on VWM performance and at retrieval has a negative effect. Given that VWM capacity depends on information load and the number of objects, the positive effect of similarity may be attributed to reduced information load of memory objects.     

Divergent thinking in the grasslands: thinking about object function in the context of a grassland survival scenario elicits more alternate uses than control scenarios

The survival processing effect is a recall advantage for information processed in the context of a grassland survival scenario. The current studies build upon previous research suggesting the effect is due to elaborative encoding and functional thinking. In two experiments, participants completed the “alternate uses test” under five conditions: baseline, grassland survival, Ebola survival, moving to a new home and planning a bank heist. Experiment 1 stimuli were everyday objects. Experiment 2 stimuli were functionally ambiguous “mystery” objects. Number of generated uses was highest in the baseline, but the grassland scenario was consistently highest of the schematic conditions. Recall data lend support to the mnemonic superiority of the grassland condition. Results suggest that grassland scenarios place fewer attenuating constraints on divergent thinking. It is suggested that the survival processing effect might be usefully conceptualised as an effect of creatively thinking about object function in response to broadly defined problems.     

Deep processing makes stimuli more preferable over long durations

The purpose of the current study was twofold. First, we investigated whether the type of stimulus processing (e.g. levels of processing) influenced preferences for novel objects. Second, we examined whether the influence of levels of processing on preferences was long lasting (e.g. longer than a day/week). Results showed that levels of processing affected preferences whereby more deeply processed stimuli were preferred over those that were shallowly processed. This effect was more robust for stimuli that were presented multiple times. Additionally, this levels of processing effect lasted for up to 6 weeks, suggesting stability in preferences for information that was more deeply processed. We discuss these results in terms of theories predicting the role of stimulus properties and exposure on the development of preferences.     

Relationship between sustained,orientated, divided,and selective attention and simulated aviation performance: Training & pressure effects

The present study examined how different characteristics of visual attention are related to flying ability. Eighty participants completed one of four attentional tests designed to assess sustained attention (SUSTAIN), attentional orienting (ORIENT), divided attention (DIVIDE) or selective attention (SELECT). Median splits were used to create low and high groups. After completing training, participants executed simulated landings under conditions of high anxiety. For the DIVIDE test, there were significant group differences in: (i) landing ability after training and (ii) the effects of anxiety. The high DIVIDE group had lower root mean square (RMS) errors at the end of training and were less affected by anxiety as compared to the low DIVIDE group. For the ORIENT and SELECT tests, there were significant group effects for training but not for anxiety. The high groups for these tests displayed lower RMS errors following training. There were no group differences for the SUSTAIN test. The results suggest that a test of divided attention may be useful for operational assessment of pilots.     

Age and active navigation effects on episodic memory: A virtual reality study

We investigated the navigation‐related age effects on learning, proactive interference semantic clustering, recognition hits, and false recognitions in a naturalistic situation using a virtual apartment‐based task. We also examined the neuropsychological correlates (executive functioning [EF] and episodic memory) of navigation‐related age effects on memory. Younger and older adults either actively navigated or passively followed the computer‐guided tour of an apartment. The results indicated that active navigation increased recognition hits compared with passive navigation, but it did not influence other memory measures (learning, proactive interference, and semantic clustering) to a similar extent in either age group. Furthermore, active navigation helped to reduce false recognitions in younger adults but increased those made by older adults. This differential effect of active navigation for younger and older adults was accounted for by EF score. Like for the subject‐performed task effects, the effects from the navigation manipulation were well accounted for by item‐specific/relational processing distinction, and they were also consistent with a source monitoring deficit in older adults.     

The Influence of Emotional Prediction on the Other-race Effect in Face Recognition

异族效应(other-race effect) 是一种在面孔加工研究领域中被研究者广为熟之的一种社会性知觉现象。具体而言,就是指个体识别异族面孔的成绩显著低于本族面孔。大量的研究证据表明个体在知觉他人的情绪面孔时,会表现出明显的异族面孔效应。但就目前而言,研究者还不了解自上而下的情绪预期(top-down emotional prediction) 是如何影响面孔识别过程中的异族效应。本研究采用线索-目标范式（cue-target）对该问题进行了考察,实验通过操纵“一致试次”的比率,来区分预期 (75% 的“一致”实验试次) 与非预期实验条件 (50% 的“一致”实验试次)。本实验招募28名健康的大学生被试(12名女性,16名男性)参加正式实验,这些被试无精神疾病、情绪障碍、视力缺陷等疾病。实验后,每一名被试都获得一定的实验报酬。实验结果发现,在正性和负性情绪不预期条件下,个体表现出了对异族面孔的识别劣势,即个体识别异族面孔表情的反应时更长。虽然在负性情绪预期条件下,个体仍然表现出了对异族面孔的识别劣势,但在正性情绪预期条件下,个体对异族面孔的这种识别劣势却消失。这些研究结果表明先前的正性面孔情绪预期有效地消除了异族效应。因此,可以认为自上而下的情绪预期可能是一种促进劣势知觉加工的认知管理策略。     

Masked suffix priming and morpheme positional constraints

Although masked stem priming (e.g., dealer–DEAL) is one of the most established effects in visual word identification, it is less clear whether primes and targets sharing a suffix (e.g., kindness–WILDNESS) also yield facilitation. In a new take on this issue, we show that prime nonwords facilitate lexical decisions to target words ending with the same suffix (sheeter–TEACHER) compared to a condition where the critical suffix was substituted by another one (sheetal–TEACHER) or by an unrelated nonmorphological ending (sheetub– TEACHER). We also show that this effect is genuinely morphological, as no priming emerged in noncomplex items with the same orthographic characteristics (sportel–BROTHEL vs. sportic–BROTHEL vs. sportur–BROTHEL). In a further experiment, we took advantage of these results to assess whether suffixes are recognized in a position-specific fashion. Masked suffix priming did not emerge when the relative order of stems and suffixes was reversed in the prime nonwords—ersheet did not yield any time saving in the identification of teacher as compared to either alsheet or obsheet. We take these results to show that –er was not identified as a morpheme in ersheet, thus indicating that suffix identification is position specific. This conclusion is in line with data on interference effects in nonword rejection and strongly constrains theoretical proposals on how complex words are identified. In particular, because these findings were reported in a masked priming paradigm, they suggest that positional constraints operate early, most likely at a prelexical level of morpho-orthographic analysis.     

How retaining objects containing multiple features in visual working memory regulates the priority for access to visual awareness

The content of visual working memory influences the access to visual awareness. Thus far, research has focused on retention of a single feature, whereas memoranda in real life typically contain multiple features. Here, we intermixed a delayed match-to-sample task to manipulate VWM content, and a breaking Continuous Flash Suppression (b-CFS) task to measure prioritization for visual awareness. Observers memorized either the color (Exp. 1), the shape (Exp. 2) or both the features (Exp. 3) of an item and indicated the location of a suppressed target. We observed that color-matching targets broke suppression faster than color-mismatching targets both when color was memory relevant or irrelevant. Shape only impacted priority for visual awareness through an interaction with color. We conclude that: (1) VWM can regulate the priority of visual information to access visual awareness along a single feature dimension; (2) different features of a memorandum vary in their potency to impact access to visual awareness, and the more dominant feature may even suppress the effect of the less dominant feature; (3) even stimuli that match an irrelevant feature dimension of the memorandum can be prioritized for visual awareness.