Converging measures of speech segmentation in preverbal infants

Two studies using novel extensions of the conditioned head-turning method examined contributions of rhythmic and distributional properties of syllable strings to 8-month-old infants' speech segmentation. The two techniques introduced exploit fundamental, but complementary, properties of representational units. The first involved assessment of discriminative response maintenance when simple training stimuli were embedded in more complex speech contexts; the second involved measurement of infants' latencies in detecting extraneous signals superimposed on speech stimuli. A complex pattern of results is predicted if infants succeed in grouping syllables into higher-order units. Across the two studies, the predicted pattern of results emerged, indicating that rhythmic properties of speech play an important role in guiding infants toward potential linguistically relevant units and simultaneously demonstrating that the techniques proposed here provide valid, converging measures of infants' auditory representational units.     

Infants' sensitivity to arbitrary object-odor pairings

The ability of 4-month-old infants to learn the arbitrary relationship between an object and a distinctive odor was assessed. Infants were familiarized with two objects while one of them was paired with a cherry odor. Results indicated that only female subjects showed evidence of matching. They increased their looking to the target object in the presence of the odor but not in the absence of the odor, relative to baseline levels.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISON OF THREE DIFFERENT SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT OF DRUG ABSTINENCE USING CIGARETTE SMOKING AS AN EXEMPLAR

The efficacy of three different schedules of reinforcement for promoting and sustaining drug abstinence was compared in this study. Cigarette smoking was studied as an exemplar of stimulant drug self-administration. Sixty cigarette smokers were assigned to one of three groups (progressive rate of reinforcement, fixed rate of reinforcement, and yoked control). Participants in all three groups were asked to refrain from smoking for 1 week. Participants in the progressive and fixed groups achieved greater mean levels of abstinence than those in the control group. Participants in the progressive group were significantly less likely to resume smoking when they became abstinent than participants in the other groups.     

Physical characteristics of residential psychiatric and substance abuse programs: Organizational determinants and patient outcomes

Described the Physical and Architectural Characteristics Inventory (PACI), which assesses the physical characteristics of hospital- and community-based psychiatric and substance abuse residential treatment programs for adults. Developed using data from 94 representative programs, the PACI has 7 dimensions that assess community accessibility, physical features that add convenience, aid recreation, and provide support for patients, and space for patient and staff functions. In comparison to community-based programs (n=63), hospital programs (n=31) had more social-recreational and prosthetic aids, safety features, staff facilities, and space. The PACI dimensions were also related to other organizational features, such as facility ownership and program size and staffing level. Programs with more physical amenities had patients who were more involved in self-initiated and community activities and were more likely to successfully complete the program and be discharged to independent living situations and paid jobs. Programs with more social-recreational and prosthetic aids, space, and access to community resources also had better patient outcomes. In addition, PACI dimensions were related to observers' ratings of facility attractiveness. Potential applications of the PACI and the full inventory of which it is a part are discussed.     

Diagnosing posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI clinical scales: A review of the literature

A review of the literature resulted in 21 published studies that reported mean MMPI profile patterns for PTSD patients. Of these, six (29%) reported that the mean 8-2 profile pattern significantly differentiated PTSD patients from non-PTSD patients. The majority of studies found additional PTSD profile patterns reflecting nearly all of the MMPI clinical scales. The data indicate some common group profile patterns for inpatient veterans, prisoner's of war, and inpatient veteran substance abusers. The results also support the hypothesis that there is a continuum from inpatient to outpatient and veteran to civilian populations that corresponds with both symptom and stressor severity. It is concluded that although there is some typicality in similar populations, clinicians should expect heterogeneous MMPI profiles from PTSD patients representing a diversity of clinical symptoms and styles.     

Violent behavior in adolescents and young adults: A person and environment model

We explore a model that examines how personal and environmental variables explain violent behavior by adolescents. Repeated interviews with youths from 1984–1992 from 10 cities across the United States provided the data. These interviews first occurred with 2,787 youths when they were adolescents (1984–85 and 1986–87) and the interviews were repeated on a subsample of 602 youths when they were young adults (1989–90 and 1991–92). Longitudinal multivariate analyses showed that almost a third of the variance in adolescent violent behaviors was predicted by a combination of personal variables (gender, substance misuse) and environmental variables (history of child abuse, stressful events, traumatic events, and city rates of unemployment). Further, almost a third of the variance in change in violent behaviors from year to year was predicted by prior violent behavior and a combination of personal variables (gender, suicidality, and substance misuse) and environmental variables (stressful events).     

关于听觉条件下中文字词劣效果的研究

对听觉条件下中文字词劣效果的问题进行了实验考察,结果发现：在文章听点作业中,被试对高、低频目标字词语音的正误判断量存在着显著性差别,前者较后者成绩差,表现出字词劣效果的现象;在单字词的听点作业中,未发现被试对高、低频目标字词语音正误判断量方面的显著性差别;无论在文章还是单字词的听点作业中,被试对高、低频目标字词语音的正误判断量均比较低下,表明语音知觉的范畴性特征对字词语音的辩认准确性具有较大影响。     

Validity and temporal stability of the chimeric face technique for studying hemispheric processing asymmetries: Data from 6-through 14-year-old children

The validity and temporal stability of the chimeric face technique as a measure of cerebral hemispheric functioning in children were investigated. The method is based upon the observation that when a subject encounters a representation of the human face, the left side (from the observer's point of view) of the face dominates his or her perception of it. This bias was shown to be present in a majority of children ranging from 6 through 14 years old, and it was stronger for right-handers than for left-handers. The 1-month temporal stability of the bias was 67%, which is comparable to that of other surface methods. As in other split-message techniques, the typical left visual field bias was more reliable than the unusual right visual field bias. The implications of these data are discussed.     

福至心灵：幸运感知对消费行为的影响及其理论解释

寻求幸运的行为从古至今广泛存在于人类生活的方方面面,幸运感知如何影响消费行为的理论成果为消费研究领域做出了重要贡献。通过系统回顾相关文献发现,个体的幸运感知会对冒险行为、独特性寻求、传染效应、特定事物的态度和幸运消费产生影响。归因理论、人格特质理论、认知启动理论、反事实思维、社会比较理论、控制感理论和启发式决策可以用于解释幸运感知对消费行为的影响。未来研究应深化幸运感知影响消费行为的作用机制并拓展边界条件及其双向结果。     

基于心灵知觉理论的AI服务用户接受机制及使用促进策略

许多企业采用人工智能服务应答顾客需求,然而多项研究指出用户并不总是对此感到满意。本研究围绕着用户对AI的心灵知觉的产生和影响,探索了驱动用户对AI服务态度的关键因素及使用促进策略,包括(1)机理分析层面：用户与AI早期接触的线索和体验因素如何使得人们产生了AI“擅长计算却缺乏感受”的心灵知觉？(2)调节作用层面：不同的用户内部状态和AI外部特征怎样调节了这种心灵知觉的形成和激活？(3)促进策略层面：将AI拟动物化和提供技术援助为何能借助心灵知觉使得用户在更广泛的场景中接受来自AI的服务？本研究试图在学理层面构建一个基于心灵知觉理论的新型AI服务接受模型,为从理论上解释用户对AI服务的矛盾态度提供心理学参考;同时试图在实践层面上借助心灵知觉理论提出两种促进用户接受AI服务的路径方法,为企业在服务中提升AI的应用效能提供技术参考。