Further evidence that object-based correspondence effects are primarily modulated by object location not by grasping affordance

Tipper, Paul and Hayes found object-based correspondence effects for door-handle stimuli for shape judgments but not colour. They reasoned that a grasping affordance is activated when judging dimensions related to a grasping action (shape), but not for other dimensions (colour). Cho and Proctor, however, found the effect with respect to handle position when the bases of the door handles were centred (so handles were positioned left or right; the base-centred condition) but not when the handles were centred (the object-centred condition), suggesting that the effect is driven by object location, not grasping affordance. We conducted an independent replication of Cho and Proctor's design, but with behavioural and event-related potential measures. Participants made shape judgments in Experiment 1 and colour judgments in Experiment 2 on the same door-handle objects. Correspondence effects on response time and errors were obtained in both experiments for the base-centred condition but not the object-centred condition. Effects were absent in the P1 and N1 data, which are consistent with the hypothesis of little binding between visual processing of grasping component and action. These findings question the grasping-affordance view but support a spatial-coding view, suggesting that correspondence effects are modulated primarily by object location.     

小学生表征数学应用题策略的实验研究

通过一个2(成功与否)×2(提示与否)×2(题型)的混合实验设计,对小学五年级学生解决和差应用题的表征策略进行了研究.结果表明:(1)与比较应用题的表征相类似,小学生对和差应用题的表征也存在着直译策略和问题模型策略;(2)不成功组解题者在表征和差应用题时倾向于运用直译策略,而成功组的解题者更倾向于运用问题模型策略,这导致了成功者与不成功者在列式上的差异,特别是在不一致题型上表现得更明显;(3)在读题前给以“请注意理解这道题的意思”这样简单的提示,对不成功的解题者对和差问题的正确表征并不能起到作用;(4)成功的和差应用题解题者和不成功的解题者在列式正确性的自我评价上存在显著差异.     

双耳分听和补笔对立即回忆延迟回忆影响的实验研究

通过两个实验探讨集中注意和补笔练习对立即回忆、延迟回忆的影响。实验一以英语单词为学习材料,使用组间设计方法,实验组采用附加追随程序和补笔练习;控制组为自定学习方式。学习结果表明：在自由回忆英文单词、听写英文单词和中译英三个方面,实验组的学习成绩明显高于控制组;实验组的学习方式更有利于低分组学生的学习。实验二的学习方式与实验一相同,通过４次测试的回归分析发现,实验组的学习发展水平明显高于控制组。     

Effects of contextual diversity on semantic decision and reading aloud: evidence from a word learning study in English as a second language / Efectos de la diversidad contextual en la decisión semántica y la lectura en voz alta: evidencia de un estudio de aprendizaje de palabras en inglés como segundo idioma

This experiment investigated contextual diversity effects on novel word learning in English as a second language (L2). A group of advanced English speakers, whose native language was Spanish, participated in the study. Participants learned the meaning of real but obscure words that were embedded in either two or 12 different sentences and learned over two days (frequency of exposure was kept constant). On day three, participants were tested using reading aloud and semantic decision tasks. The results showed that participants learned the meaning of words in both conditions fairly well as revealed by their accuracy in the semantic decision task. However, words experienced in 12 different contexts generated more accurate and faster reaction times (RTs), suggesting the acquisition of more robust semantic representations. Strikingly, reading latencies were also faster for the 12-sentence condition, which might imply that semantics has an effect on reading newly learned words in English as a second language. These results are discussed and accommodated in view of the DRC and the PDP models of single-word reading.     

Feature Statistics Modulate the Activation of Meaning During Spoken Word Processing

Understanding spoken words involves a rapid mapping from speech to conceptual representations. One distributed feature‐based conceptual account assumes that the statistical characteristics of concepts’ features—the number of concepts they occur in (distinctiveness/sharedness) and likelihood of co‐occurrence (correlational strength)—determine conceptual activation. To test these claims, we investigated the role of distinctiveness/sharedness and correlational strength in speech‐to‐meaning mapping, using a lexical decision task and computational simulations. Responses were faster for concepts with higher sharedness, suggesting that shared features are facilitatory in tasks like lexical decision that require access to them. Correlational strength facilitated responses for slower participants, suggesting a time‐sensitive co‐occurrence‐driven settling mechanism. The computational simulation showed similar effects, with early effects of shared features and later effects of correlational strength. These results support a general‐to‐specific account of conceptual processing, whereby early activation of shared features is followed by the gradual emergence of a specific target representation.     

Aging,source memory,and the experience of “remembering”

In a previous study, we found source memory for perceptual features to differentiate between younger but not older adults’ reports of recollective (“remember”; R) and “know” (K) experiences. In two experiments with younger (17–30 years) and older (64–81 years) participants, we examined whether memory for meaningful speaker sources would accompany older adults’ recollective experience. Indeed, memory for male and female speakers (but not partial memory for gender; Experiment 1) as well as bound memory for speakers and their facial expressions (Experiment 2) distinguished between both younger and older adults’ RK reports. Thus, memory for some sources forms a common basis for younger and older adults’ retrieval experience. Nonetheless, older adults still showed lower objective source memory and lower subjective source-attribution confidence than younger adults when reporting recollective experiences, suggesting that source memory is less relevant to their retrieval experience than for younger adults.     

Assessing the Effect of Language Demand in Bundles of Math Word Problems

Differential bundle functioning (DBF) analyses were conducted to determine whether seventh and eighth grade second language learners (SLLs) had lower probabilities of answering bundles of math word problems correctly that had heavy language demands, when compared to non-SLLs of equal math proficiency. Math word problems on each of four test forms (two at Grade 7 and two at Grade 8) were bundled together if they used the passive voice, conditional clause, relative clause, or a combination of any two. The results showed that the average total scores for SLLs was significantly lower than that for non-SLLs on each test form. However, only two bundles (passive voice and conditional clause at Grade 7 on Form 2) indicated statistically significant DBF against SLLs in favor of matched non-SLLs. An additional step was taken to determine whether the two bundles that showed statistically significant DBF against SLLs had biased the mean total scores for this group.The Walker, Zhang, Banks, and Cappaert (2012) procedure established for this purpose showed that this was not the case. Implications of the results are provided as well as suggestions for future research.     

句首词语音形义变化在判断句义中的作用

通过要求被试判断前后出现的两个句子意思是否一致,探讨句首词语音形义变化对句子阅读的影响,同时验证汉字音形义激活的时间进程。实验结果表明：（1）句首词语音形义变化对句子阅读的影响不一致,字形对句子阅读的影响最大,而字音和字义对句子阅读的影响大小不能得到分离。（2）句首词语首尾变化对句子阅读的影响不一致,词语尾字变化条件下的反应时比词语首字变化条件下的反应时更长。实验结果支持了句首词语字形对句子阅读影响最大、句首词语尾字变化比首字变化对句子阅读影响更大的观点。     

How Regulatory Orientation and Feelings of Gratitude Shape Online Review Helpfulness

Online review helpfulness ratings are an important indicator of the impact of online reviews. Often times, helpfulness is explained in terms of observable qualities of online reviews that predict helpfulness ratings. This research proposes that focusing on the psychological processes that underlie helpfulness voting informs a better understanding of what shapes review helpfulness ratings. Specifically, because goal orientation influences information processing, consumers’ regulatory orientation interacts with review valence to determine review helpfulness. When review valence and regulatory orientation match, consumers are more likely to express helpfulness through voting. The findings show that this effect occurs at least in part because matching review valence and regulatory orientation instills feelings of gratitude towards the reviewer. As a consequence, consumers are more likely to reward the reviewer with a helpfulness vote to express their feeling of gratitude through actions. However, when reviewers actively state expectations of reciprocal behavior by readers, gratitude is reduced and so is the likelihood that a review receives a helpfulness vote. Evidence from five studies using review data and online experiments show support for these effects.