Control beliefs and susceptibility to the promises of memory improvement

Brain training is increasingly popular, and many believe in the efficacy of such programs without empirical evidence. We examined whether instructions promising memory improvement would influence subjective and objective cognition. Participants (n = 145; age: M = 50.64) were randomly assigned to a memory improvement or memory task condition. Participants completed demographic and perceived control over cognition measures, in addition to cognitive tasks and subjective cognition items for 7 days. Participants in the improvement condition reported significantly greater memory increases than those in the memory task condition. This effect was moderated by perceived control over cognition; participants in the improvement condition with high control beliefs were significantly more likely than those with low control beliefs or those in the task condition to report better memory. Individuals with higher control beliefs may be more susceptible to the claims of brain training programs, which is significant given that such programs are increasingly popular and commercially available.     

A preliminary investigation of reaction time variability in relation to social functioning in children evaluated for ADHD

Reaction time variability (RTV) is a ubiquitous phenomenon in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Few studies have examined RTV in relation to functional outcomes such as social impairment in children with ADHD. In this exploratory study, we investigated whether RTV is associated with social functioning in children at risk for ADHD. Specifically, we explored the association between RTV (tau derived from correct go trials of a Stop-Signal task) and social functioning in 198 children ages 7–12 years referred for an ADHD evaluation. Social functioning measures included child and/or parent ratings of social competence, aggression, social problems, and impairment in relationships. In regression analyses that also included Oppositional Defiant Disorder symptoms and sex, higher RTV was significantly associated with lower ratings of social competence, and higher proactive/reactive aggression ratings on the child self-report measures. RTV was not significantly associated with parent report of social functioning or relationship impairment. This study provides preliminary evidence that RTV may be associated with social functioning in children at risk for ADHD. We propose that lapses of attention affecting cognitive control may also negatively impact social information processing thereby affecting social functioning. Replication is warranted and longitudinal studies are needed to investigate whether RTV predicts social dysfunction in ADHD.     

后现代主义视角下第二代认知科学的三个特征

具有浓厚哲学色彩的第二代认知科学,拥有一些后现代主义哲学的特征,作为对立面的经典认知,对比之下也展现出现代主义哲学的特征。从反基础主义、非理性主义和后人道主义三个方面,讨论二代认知的主张及其与经典认知的关系。二代认知理论中的矛盾之处,不仅是由于认知科学的发展惯性和理论发展的欠缺,也是理论本身的特殊性导致,对未来发展的思考更需要谨慎进行。     

Relationship context and personality shape people's preferences for network relationship partners

This study investigates how people weight potential relationship partners' personal characteristics (i.e., warmth and competence) when deciding to initiate professional versus personal network relationships, and it also examines how certain personality traits (extraversion and conscientiousness) shape this process. Results from two samples indicate that people tend to value competence more highly when initiating professional relationships, whereas they tend to value warmth more highly when initiating personal relationships. Furthermore, neither extraversion nor conscientiousness was related to how people weighted competence when initiating professional relationships. However, supplementary analyses demonstrated that people high in conscientiousness tend to value competence and people high in agreeableness tend to value warmth in their network relationship partners, regardless of whether they are initiating a professional or personal relationship.     

Fourteen‐month‐old infants track the language comprehension of communicative partners

Infants employ sophisticated mechanisms to acquire their first language, including some that rely on taking the perspective of adults as speakers or listeners. When do infants first show awareness of what other people understand? We tested 14‐month‐old infants in two experiments measuring event‐related potentials. In Experiment 1, we established that infants produce the N400 effect, a brain signature of semantic violations, in a live object naming paradigm in the presence of an adult observer. In Experiment 2, we induced false beliefs about the labeled objects in the adult observer to test whether infants keep track of the other person's comprehension. The results revealed that infants reacted to the semantic incongruity heard by the other as if they encountered it themselves: they exhibited an N400‐like response, even though labels were congruous from their perspective. This finding demonstrates that infants track the linguistic understanding of social partners. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/pQUv8yFhnbk .     

It's not all in the face: reduced face visibility does not modulate social segmentation

Humans rely on social information to parse environmental content into social and nonsocial events. Here, we assessed if information conveyed by faces was necessary for this process. We asked participants to view a video clip depicting a social interaction and mark social and nonsocial events while actors’ faces were either visible or blurred. Keypress and eye-movement data were collected. Participants consistently identified social and nonsocial event boundaries independently of face availability, with greater agreement and less variability in keypresses for social relative to nonsocial events. Eye-tracking revealed that participants attended more to actors’ faces when they were visible and more to bodies when faces were blurred. Thus, face information is not necessary for social segmentation, which appears to be a flexible process that depends on a range of information conveyed by both faces and bodies.     

Cultural influences in somatosensory amplification and their association with negative affective states

Previous research has indicated that, reflecting East Asians’ holistic attentional style, they are likely to emphasize more somatic symptoms and perceive their internal visceral states less accurately as compared with Westerners. Based on these findings, comparing representative samples of Americans and Japanese participants, this research examined whether somatosensory amplification would vary across cultures. Moreover, by controlling confounding factors, including neuroticism and chronic disorders, the possibility that the association between somatosensory amplification and negative affective states differs across cultures also was tested. The results showed that Japanese exhibit higher somatosensory amplification than do Americans. In both cultures, as neuroticism and the number of chronic disorders increased, negative affective states also increased, leading to higher somatosensory amplification. Whereas negative affective states completely mediated the paths of neuroticism and chronic disorders to somatosensory amplification in the United States, such mediation was partial in Japan. Moreover, the association between somatosensory amplification and negative affective states was weaker in Japanese than in Americans.     

Examining HPA-axis functioning as a mediator of the relationship between depression and cognition across the adult lifespan

Altered HPA-axis functioning is a hypothesized mechanism for worsened cognition in depression. The current study examines the indirect effects of depression on processing speed, executive functioning, and memory as a function of the HPA-axis. 38 individuals with a depression diagnosis and 50 healthy controls (HCs) aged 18–86 underwent neuropsychological testing and at-home diurnal salivary cortisol collection. Depression was assessed via structured clinical interviews and rating scales. Cognitive composite scores were derived from factor analysis. Daytime cortisol exposure was estimated using area under the curve (AUC). Depression was associated with higher cortisol levels and slower processing speed . A significant suppression effect of AUC was present on the relationship between depression and processing speed. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and limited sample heterogeneity. Though poorly modulated HPA-axis is one proposed mechanism of cognitive alterations in depression, our results did not support this conclusion for processing speed. Alternative mechanisms should be considered to inform interventions to target cognitive alterations in depression.     

The cognitive functioning of older adult instrumental musicians and non-musicians

This study examined similarities and differences in the cognitive profiles of older adult instrumental musicians and non-musicians. We compared neuropsychological test scores among older adult non-musicians, low-activity musicians (<10 years of lessons), and high-activity musicians (≥10 years of lessons), controlling for self-reported physical and social activity, years of education, and overall health. Significant differences among groups were found on tasks of visual spatial ability, naming, and executive functioning. No significant differences were found on tests of attention/processing speed, or episodic memory. The current study supports late life cognitive benefits of early musical training, but only in select cognitive domains, including language, executive functioning, and visual spatial ability. The results are discussed in the context of cognitive reserve and aging.