行为决策中模糊规避研究的回顾与展望

模糊规避是指在相同奖赏的情况下,决策者会偏好有精确概率的事件而不是从主观上判断具有相同模糊概率的事件。自从Ellsberg提出模糊规避的概念以来,模糊规避已在行为决策研究的多个领域得到广泛验证。本文梳理了近五十年来关于模糊规避的研究文献,系统分析了模糊规避的研究范式、心理机制和影响因素,同时提出了未来的研究展望。     

书面韵律信息与词汇偏向在歧义句歧义消解中的作用

本研究采用眼动法,探讨了被试在理解层次分隔歧义句时,逗号作为书面韵律边界所起到的作用,以及书面韵律边界与词汇信息如何共同影响句子加工。研究选取了裸视视力或矫正视力均正常的母语为汉语的成人,完成一个在自然情境下阅读层次分隔歧义句的句子理解实验,同时记录他们句子阅读时的眼动数据。结果发现：有逗号解歧的句子的阅读时间明显少于没有逗号解歧句子的阅读时间;逗号偏向类型和词汇偏向类型之间存在交互作用,即两者在三种眼动指标上都达到了显著性水平,研究所选的三种眼动指标为首次注视时间、第一遍阅读时间和总注视时间;此外,当逗号偏向将句子结构确定为形容词修饰整个短语结构时,词汇偏向会对语义理解进行调整,表现在三种眼动指标的显著性上。实验结果支持内隐韵律假设,书面韵律信息对歧义句歧义消解的作用从句子加工早期开始,书面韵律信息与词汇偏向的交互作用也发生于句子加工早期。     

工作记忆与汉语歧义句加工的眼动研究

以符合“VP+N1+的+N2”格式的述宾型歧义短语组成的句子为材料,采用2×2的混合设计,即2(工作记忆广度：高、低)×2(续接方式：偏正、述宾),采用眼动记录法,考察被试对歧义短语的语义加工过程。结果发现：（1）在无前语境的暂时句法歧义句中,不同的续接方式在句子的最初加工过程中的作用不显著,而在最终的理解过程中作用显著。（2）工作记忆高有利于句子的理解,但对歧义短语的两种意思的提取和保持的作用不显著。     

Pathways to trust and caution among South African university students

This study sought to characterise lifestyle factors of trust and caution among South African university students (n = 196; females = 78.06%; median age = 21 years). The students completed an online survey on trustworthiness in cultural context. The data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to construct pathways among the trust and caution with social cynicism, and tolerance for ambiguity. Results indicate social cynicism to predict generalised caution, but not generalised trust. Tolerance for ambiguity was not a significant predictor of generalised trust, nor of generalised caution.     

Are we certain about which measure of intolerance of uncertainty to use yet?

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) has been understood as a dispositional tendency to view the presence of negative events as unacceptable and threatening, regardless of the likelihood of those events occurring. The preference over the 12-item vs. 27-item of the IUS has been central to debate. The goals of the present study were to evaluate two competing models of measuring IU with model-fitting analyses and explore model invariance of gender (e.g. men vs. women). A sample of 980 individuals completed an online IUS survey. Results indicated that the two-factor short-form model provided better fit to the data compared to the full-length two-factor model proposed by. Results also indicated that the short-form IUS is gender invariant, suggesting acceptable use among men and women. These findings provide further support of a two-factor structure and suggest that the IUS is appropriate for men and women.     

All in the first glance: first fixation predicts individual differences in valence bias*

Surprised expressions are interpreted as negative by some people, and as positive by others. When compared to fearful expressions, which are consistently rated as negative, surprise and fear share similar morphological structures (e.g. widened eyes), but these similarities are primarily in the upper part of the face (eyes). We hypothesised, then, that individuals would be more likely to interpret surprise positively when fixating faster to the lower part of the face (mouth). Participants rated surprised and fearful faces as either positive or negative while eye movements were recorded. Positive ratings of surprise were associated with longer fixation on the mouth than negative ratings. There were also individual differences in fixation patterns, with individuals who fixated the mouth earlier exhibiting increased positive ratings. These findings suggest that there are meaningful individual differences in how people process faces.     

Executive function and intelligence in the resolution of temporary syntactic ambiguity: an individual differences investigation

In the current study, we examined the role of intelligence and executive functions in the resolution of temporary syntactic ambiguity using an individual differences approach. Data were collected from 174 adolescents and adults who completed a battery of cognitive tests as well as a sentence comprehension task. The critical items for the comprehension task consisted of object/subject garden paths (e.g., While Anna dressed the baby that was small and cute played in the crib), and participants answered a comprehension question (e.g., Did Anna dress the baby?) following each one. Previous studies have shown that garden-path misinterpretations tend to persist into final interpretations. Results showed that both intelligence and processing speed interacted with ambiguity. Individuals with higher intelligence and faster processing were more likely to answer the comprehension questions correctly and, specifically, following ambiguous as opposed to unambiguous sentences. Inhibition produced a marginal effect, but the variance in inhibition was largely shared with intelligence. Conclusions focus on the role of individual differences in cognitive ability and their impact on syntactic ambiguity resolution.     

Évolutions législatives et enjeux éthiques liés à la prise en charge des enfants ayant un trouble de la différenciation sexuelle (DSD)

The ethical dilemma concerning the care of children with a disorder of sex development opposes patients who have benefited from undeniable medical and surgical advances over the past 30 years and patients who have suffered from initial carek, experienced as “torture” or “genital mutilation”. The latter, grouped into advocacy organization (including the International Intersex Organization), recommend that genital operation of children must be avoided until they can give their prior consent, in the name of the fundamental right to self-determination and physical integrity. This “free choice” left to the child would not take into account the opinion of the parents or that of the medical team, nor any psychological, social and societal consequences, nor the risks of late surgery. Recent legislative developments are exposed. The interest of legislating on these delicate situations affecting the most intimate is questioned, especially as they are of great complexity because of the heterogeneity of genetic causes and family situations. Medico-surgical Societies, in connection with patient associations denounce this media hold by “Intersex” activists, who are not representative of the patients having been managed more recently. They advocate to continue to understand these situations on a case-by-case basis, leaving the choice to the parents to allow the child to grow up in a gendered body.     

Can brain stimulation improve semantic joke comprehension?

ABSTRACT

Semantic humour involves a deviation from lexico-semantic rules that introduces ambiguity into interpretation of a situation. The left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG) has been implicated in humour processing (e.g. semantic puns, ambiguity resolution). The present study aimed to examine whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left IFG would enhance semantic ambiguity resolution. In two sessions, fifteen participants aged 20–35 years received either offline anodal tDCS or sham stimulation for 20?min, after which they read semantically ambiguous humorous sentences, literal (non-ambiguous) sentences, and meaningless sentences, and then performed a semantic judgment task relating to each sentence’s final word. Results showed that ambiguity resolution requires longer processing than literality. However, left IFG stimulation was ineffective in increasing ambiguity resolution. Researchers should target different brain areas in both hemispheres to further explore humour comprehension.