阅读理解中的代词加工:先行词的距离与性别刻板印象的作用

采用眼动技术,本研究探讨了阅读理解中代词的加工机制.读者阅读包含代词的文本,代词的性别与先行词的性别刻板印象一致或违背,同时其和先行词间的距离或远或近,记录被试阅读文本的眼动轨迹.结果发现,与一致条件相比,违背条件的加工时间更长.当代词和先行词间距离较近时,一致性效应在关键代词区的反映早期加工的眼动指标上即出现,而当二者间距离较远时,一致性效应在更后的位置(代词后那一区域)出现,并且只出现在反映晚期加工的眼动指标上.此外,与远距离一致条件相比,近距离一致条件下代词后那一区域的阅读时间更长.上述结果表明,性别刻板印象以及距离在代词加工皆发挥重要作用,而且性别刻板印象产生的影响在时程上因距离的不同而不同.这一结果在一定程度上为语言理解的交互作用理论提供了证据.     

阅读中的注意分配:序列与平行之争

阅读中的注意分配问题是区分目前占主导地位的两类眼动控制模型的核心因素,基于序列分布假设的眼动控模型与基于平行注意分布的眼动控制模型在对眼动行为的预测中存在一些显著的差异,譬如一次注视下能否深度加工知觉广度内的一个以上词汇的信息.文章围绕两类模型对该问题的不同预测,深入探讨了两类模型的核心差异以及相关实验证据,并概括其它相关领域中在知觉广度内关于序列与平行注意分布的研究,以及对建构中文眼动控制模型的重要意义.     

Number versus extent in newborns’ spontaneous preference for collections of dots

This study investigated processing of number and extent in newborns. Using visual preference, we showed that newborns discriminated between small sets of dot collections relying solely on implicit numerical information when non-numerical continuous variables were strictly controlled (Experiment 1), and solely on continuous information when numerical variables were controlled (Experiment 2). When number and extent were pitted against each other (Experiment 3), newborns showed no visual preference, suggesting that the two variables play comparable roles in attracting newborns’ visual attention. In contrast to reports of dominance of continuous variables, these findings suggest that multiple dimensions attract newborns’ attention and guide their visual exploration.     

Expression and processing of emotions: Relationships with cd4+ levels in 42 hiv-positive asymptomatic individuals

Abstract

Background: The study investigated the relationship between CD4+ levels and two emotion-related measures, one of expressed emotion (Hostility directed Inwards, Hdl) and one of capacity for emotional processing (Referential Activity, RA).

Method42 HIV-1 positive asymptomatic subjects, under AZT treatment, underwent CD4+ assessment immediately after a brief interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the Gottschalk-Gleser and Referential Activity scales. Of the Gottschalk-Gleser scales, only Hdl was considered.

ResultsAs hypothesized, the regression of emotion-related scores on CD4 + levels showed a curvilinearrelationship with Hdl scores, and a linearrelationship with RA scores. Subjects with the best immune status therefore showed intermediate levels of expressed emotion and a high capacity for emotional processing.

ConclusionThe findings support the usefulness of working through, rather than releasing emotion. Previous negative findings in the field might be explained by the unjustified assumption of linear relationships between expressed emotion and health.     

Mood as a resource in dealing with health recommendations: How mood affects information processing and acceptance of quit-smoking messages

Objective: An experimental study tested the effects of positive and negative mood on the processing and acceptance of health recommendations about smoking in an online experiment. It was hypothesised that positive mood would provide smokers with the resources to systematically process self-relevant health recommendations.

Design: One hundred and twenty-seven participants (smokers and non-smokers) read a message in which a quit smoking programme was recommended. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: positive versus negative mood, and strong versus weak arguments for the recommended action.

Main outcome measures: Systematic message processing was inferred when participants were able to distinguish between high- and low-quality arguments, and by congruence between attitudes and behavioural intentions. Persuasion was measured by participant's attitudes towards smoking and the recommended action, and by their intentions to follow the action recommendation.

Results: As predicted, smokers systematically processed the health message only under positive mood conditions; non-smokers systematically processed the health message only under negative mood conditions. Moreover, smokers’ attitudes towards the health message predicted intentions to quit smoking only under positive mood conditions.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that positive mood may decrease defensive processing of self-relevant health information.     

Neurocognitive development in 5- to 16-year-old North American children: A cross-sectional study

Executive functions are thought to be the latest functions to mature. However, this view has not been tested by assessing simultaneously memory, perception of emotions, visuospatial perception, and visuoconstructional skills. NEPSY II norm data from 1000 5- to 16-year-old U.S. children were obtained. Fifteen NEPSY II subtests with no floor or ceiling effects in any age group and no major changes in task type were selected. The 16-year level was attained at age 12 to 13 in all subtests with two exceptions: social perception (age 10 to 11) and narrative memory (age 14). Trend analyses showed that development was rapid in the age range 5 to 9 years followed by a deceleration in the rate of development. Peak performances were reached at 14 to 16 years but later in some subtests representing executive functions, verbal memory, and visuospatial performance. Thus, the study specified developmental time tables of neurocognitive functions. It demonstrated that not only executive functions but also verbal memory and visuospatial performance continue to develop beyond age 16.     

Ophthalmic disorder may affect visuo-attentional performance in childhood

The aim of this study was to explore the visuo-attentional skills of children with an ophthalmic disorder. Twenty-four patients and 60 healthy controls between the ages 4 and 7 years, all right-handed with normal or corrected-to-normal close visual acuity, were divided into four age groups. Patients' diagnoses included refractive disorders (e.g., myopia, hypermetropia), strabismus, amblyopia, cataract, and nystagmus. All participants performed nine paper-and-pencil visuospatial tasks aiming to assess selective attention (cancellation tasks), spatial working memory (symbol orientation task), fine visual analysis (embedded figures test), and simple perceptual analysis (shape-matching task). In healthy children, the results showed that performance on all visuo-attentional tasks improved with age. While perception, orientation of attention, and visual working memory develop by the time children begin school (age 5), more sophisticated abilities such as attention disengagement and motor control continue to develop during late childhood. Moreover, a spatial bias in attention orienting appeared with reading acquisition (6–7 years). In ophthalmic children, at 4 years of age defects were observed in all assessed functions, but at 7 years an attentional deficit was virtually the only one remaining. Overall, the results demonstrate that children with an ophthalmologic disorder may experience difficulties with visuospatial tasks despite corrected-to-normal visual acuity.     

Evolution of grain-boundary character distribution during iterative processing of an austenitic stainless steel

The present article deals with the analysis of grain-boundary character distribution (GBCD) and microstructural characteristics after iterative processing of austenitic stainless steel, AISI 316L. The steel was subjected to iterative cold reduction and subsequent annealings. After an initial decrease in the fraction of Σ3 boundaries, the number of these increases in subsequent steps. The results relate the importance of iterative processing and the mechanism of obtaining a higher fraction of Σ3 boundaries.     

Initial sintering of cylindrical particles of different sizes by surface diffusion

Sintering of two cylindrical particles of different sizes by surface diffusion at the early stage is theoretically analysed. Formulae for the neck growth rate are derived using a variational principle and the continuity equation of vacancies. The size difference between two particles is found to influence the growth rate of the neck only when the difference is large.