The role of the magnocellular and parvocellular pathways in the attentional blink

The attentional blink refers to the transient impairment in perceiving the 2nd of two targets presented in close temporal proximity in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on human attentional-blink performance of disrupting the function of the magnocellular pathway--a major visual-processing pathway specialized in temporal segregation. The study was motivated by recent theories that relate the attentional blink to the limited temporal resolution of attentional responses, and by a number of poorly understood empirical findings, including the effects on the attentional blink of luminance adaptation and distraction. The attentional blink was assessed for stimuli on a red background (Experiment 1), stimuli on an equiluminant background (Experiment 2), and following flicker or motion adaptation (Experiment 3), three psychophysical manipulations known to disrupt magnocellular function. Contrary to our expectations, the attentional blink was not affected by these manipulations, suggesting no specific relationship between the attentional blink and magnocellular and/or parvocellular processing.     

Interhemispheric interaction in word‐ and color‐matching of Kanji color words1

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility that a shift toward a within‐hemisphere advantage would emerge when two stimulus items receive, respectively, different processing (vs. when they receive similar processing). Using right‐handed participants, we briefly presented two Kanji color‐word items as either within‐field or across‐fields. Viewers had to match the two items in terms of ink color (a color‐matching task) or word meaning (a name‐matching task). Each Kanji color word was presented with the same (congruent) or different (incongruent) ink color relative to the word meaning. Our results were twofold. First, a within‐field advantage appeared in the relatively easier color‐matching task, whereas an across‐field advantage tended to occur in the relatively harder name‐matching task. Second, in the word‐matching task an across‐field advantage appeared when both Kanji color words appeared in similar processing manners (both congruent or both incongruent), whereas a within‐field advantage occurred when processing of two Kanji items differed (one congruent and one incongruent). These results suggested that a shift toward a within‐hemisphere advantage occurs when two items are processed in respectively different ways.     

语境与颜色诊断性对句子理解中物体隐含颜色知觉模拟的影响

具身认知理论的代表知觉符号系统认为知识表征具有知觉特点,并假设语言理解中对于所涉及概念及其隐含属性会即时进行知觉模拟。当前研究采用句图匹配范式,通过三个实验探讨句子理解中是否会对物体隐含颜色属性进行知觉模拟及其具体条件。实验1沿用经典范式验证语言理解中对物体隐含颜色存在知觉模拟过程。实验2通过变化句子前语境考察语境是否支持对于物体隐含颜色知觉模拟的影响。实验3进一步考察当颜色属性与其对应物体存在稳定关联时(即具有高颜色诊断性的物体),在不同语境作用下是否会引起知觉表征的变化。研究结果表明,语言理解中知觉模拟过程是灵活的,语境改变会引起读者所激活的物体颜色知觉表征发生变化,并且对于高颜色诊断物体,即使缺乏支持语境,读者仍然会对句中隐含的物体特定颜色进行知觉模拟。     

作为社会和文化情境的同伴圈子对儿童社会能力发展的影响

基于同伴圈子的相似性假设探讨同伴圈子的形成、圈子社会情境对儿童社会能力发展的促进作用, 以及圈子文化背景对圈子社会化过程的调节作用。选取某城乡结合部一小学3至5年级898名儿童作为被试进行一年的跟踪调查, 其中在第一年当地城市儿童占36.5%, 当地农村儿童占48.8%, 流动儿童占10.4%。学生在第一和第二年都完成《班级戏剧》和《社会认知地图》问卷。研究结果表明：(1)在个体层面上, 圈子成员的社交性、亲社会性、自主性以及同伴接纳显著高于孤立者。城市儿童的自主性显著高于农村和流动儿童, 后两者之间则无显著差异。亲社会性在性别和文化背景方面存在显著的交互作用。(2)儿童会依据社会能力的相似性来组成同伴圈子, 且不同圈子之间存在显著差异。儿童也愿意与不同文化背景的同伴交往, 形成不同类型社会文化背景的同伴圈子。(3)儿童的社交性和自主性随着同伴圈子相应能力的提高而呈正向发展趋势。(4)同伴圈子对个体社交性和自主性发展的影响因圈子所注重的社会文化准则的差异而有所不同。农村－城市圈子比农村－流动圈子对儿童社交性发展的影响明显更大些; 农村圈子的儿童自主性水平更趋于随圈子自主性的提高而正向发展。     

非文字内隐学习的优势效应

本研究以大学生为被试,运用计算机将人工语法范式程序化,分别以色块串和色词串为材料,研究颜色内隐和外显学习的特点;并增设时间变量（单元）以了解学习的详细进程。结果发现：1.学习材料上存在主效应,非言语材料（包块）较言语材料（色词）更适合于内隐加工。2.时间变量上也存在主效应,整体呈递增趋势;3.指导语上不存在主效应,即内隐学习在不同材料上的优势效应依然存在。实验结果极好地支持了非文字内隐学习优势效应的假设。     

颜色恒常认知框架模型

颜色恒常认知受到多种因素影响 ,其中包括照明、表面和背景等因素 ,也包括颜色对比、边界检测、颜色适应、模式识别 ,以及根据不同的环境线索采用不同的加工策略等认知影响因素 ,在分析上述因素的基础上尝试性地提出了一个颜色恒常认知框架模型。     

The Relationship Between Volunteers' Work Behaviors and Background and Preparation Variables

Increasingly, a large number of individuals provide volunteer services. Demographic information known about these individuals is also increasing. Although recent efforts have attempted to examine more closely the relationships between demographic and background variables and subsequent volunteer motivation and retention, few have studied how these variables impact actual work performed by volunteers. This study provides a model for how volunteers' demographic and background variables may be related to volunteers' perceptions of the frequency and importance of their work behaviors. Although it is possible that motivation also may be related to work behaviors, this study provides information ultimately leading to a more complete picture of the potential impact of demographic and background variables on work behaviors.     

Color‐specific filtering of rival binocular inputs induced by priming1

Abstract: In a situation where the two eyes separately receive two dissimilar images such as a blue square and a red square, the brain is forced to resolve competitive interpretations of the visual inputs. Earlier studies have indicated that adaptation to one of two rival images can control the following competitive perception. Consistent with those studies, the present experiments revealed that immediately after a brief presentation of a color (priming stimulation) to the two eyes, subjects dominantly perceived the other color out of the chromatic rivalry. This effect showed an interocular transfer even if indirect monocular priming was employed, but the filtering out of a primed color did not occur when an unprimed rival image was removed from the other eye. These facts suggest that binocular feature‐detection processes in the human visual system might be responsible for the priming effect on rival images.     

Attentional processing of location and color cues during driving

Studies have shown that prior information concerning the spatial location of a subsequent target facilitates the selection of that target for further visual processing in three-dimensional (3-D) space. Using Posner's cuing paradigm, our work examined the reaction time of drivers when cue duration and peripheral environment luminance was changed, and explored the effect color and location on reaction time. Experiment 1 showed that reaction time was not affected by cue duration, and that shifts of attention operated more efficiently for cue location validity. Experiment 2 showed that there was no main effect of background luminance on reaction time. Experiment 3 showed that location produces a greater effect than color.     

Male–male combats in a polymorphic lizard: residency and size,but not color,affect fighting rules and contest outcome

Theoretical models predict that the outcome of dyadic agonistic encounters between males is influenced by resource‐holding potential, resource value, and intrinsic aggressiveness of contestants. Moreover, in territorial disputes residents enjoy a further obvious competitive advantage from the residency itself, owing to the intimate familiarity with their territory. Costs of physical combats are, however, dramatically high in many instances. Thus, signals reliably reflecting fighting ability of the opponents could easily evolve in order to reduce these costs. For example, variation in color morph in polymorphic species has been associated with dominance in several case studies. In this study, we staged asymmetric resident‐intruder encounters in males of the common wall lizard Podarcis muralis, a species showing three discrete morphs (white, yellow, and red) to investigate the effects of asymmetries in color morph, residency, and size between contestants on the outcome of territorial contests. We collected aggression data by presenting each resident male with three intruders of different color morph, in three consecutive tests conducted in different days, and videotaping their interactions. The results showed that simple rules such as residency and body size differences could determine the outcome of agonistic interactions: residents were more aggressive than intruders, and larger males were competitively superior to smaller males. However, we did not find any effect of color on male aggression or fighting success, suggesting that color polymorphism in this species is not a signal of status or fighting ability in intermale conflicts. Aggr. Behav. 35:274–283, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.