手势认知功能研究的新视角：“空间化”手势假设

人类在说话或思考的时候常常伴随着手势。手势是在认知加工或交流过程中自动产生的, 具有表征性, 同时, 手势能够影响人类的认知加工。尽管研究者对手势的概念界定各有侧重, 但普遍认为手势不同于直接行动, 具有认知功能。手势认知功能的代表性理论模型有词汇索引模型、信息打包假设、表象保持理论、语义特殊性假设和嵌入/延展观。根据手势认知功能研究中主要自变量的不同, 可以把手势认知功能分成三种不同的研究范式, 即允许-限制手势的研究范式、侧重手势模式改变的研究范式、侧重情境改变的研究范式。今后值得关注的研究方向除了深入探讨手势认知功能的神经机制、加强对手势认知功能的干预研究外, 提出了建立更具解释力的手势认知功能的理论模型——“空间化”手势假设。     

Bootstrap区间估计在认知诊断模型误设中的应用

认知诊断模型选择是认知诊断评估中重要研究问题之一。在实际应用中实践者并不知道真正拟合数据的模型,通常会用模型拟合指标检验模型与数据的拟合程度。从测量结果质量来看,除保证模型与数据拟合之外,还需要重点评价模型诊断结果的信度和效度等。考虑到以往研究大都采用基于信息量的拟合指标去判定模型与数据的匹配性,本研究提出综合考虑模型拟合指标与信度指标用于模型选择或评价模型误设。考虑实验因素为真实模型或分析模型（DINA模型、G-DINA模型、R-RUM模型）、样本量、题量和属性个数,在五因素（3×3×2×2×2）实验设计条件下,比较Bootstrap区间估计的属性分类一致性信度平均数与标准误和常用的拟合统计量-2LL、AIC、BIC对正确模型的选择率。结果表明：-2LL在题目数量多的情况下表现较好,而AIC、BIC在被试量较大的情况下表现较好,在不同的研究条件下,-2LL、AIC、BIC的模型选择率很不稳定,而用Bootstrap法估计的属性分类一致性信度平均数和标准误在不同研究条件的模型选择率较稳定,总体表现较好。     

Pathological personality facets and emotion (dys)regulation in gambling disorder

A number of researches showed high prevalence of personality disorders among addicted gamblers. However, there are still few studies investigating the role of pathological personality facets in Gambling Disorder (GD). Moreover, the nature of the relationship between GD and pathological personality is not clear. We administered to a group of addicted gamblers (N = 79) and a group of healthy participants (N = 101) a battery of self-report questionnaires encompassing the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), The Personality Inventory for DSM-V (PID-5), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Analyses of variance showed that addicted gamblers, compared to healthy participants, scored higher on most of the subscales of the DERS, on the Suppression Dimension of the ERQ and on the five main domains of the PID-5 whereas they obtained lower scores on the Reappraisal subscale of the ERQ. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that some specific facets of pathological personality, emotion dysregulation and lack of cognitive reappraisal, significantly predict GD's severity. Finally, emotion dysregulation levels and lack of cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between these and GD's severity. Our results confirmed the central roles played by both pathological personality and deficit in emotion regulation capacities in GD. Specifically, Impulsivity, Lack of Perseverance and Suspiciousness may be important predictors of GD severity. Moreover, emotion dysregulation and lack of adaptive emotion regulation strategies partially explained such relationship. As such, training for emotion regulation abilities appears strategically useful in the treatment of addicted gamblers with pathological personality traits.     

不同类型自恋者对自我相关信息的认知加工偏好

以姓名和形容词为材料,采用自恋人格量表测评被试的自恋水平,通过视觉搜索任务和记忆测试任务考察个体对相关信息的注意和记忆程度,探讨不同类型自恋者对自我相关信息的认知加工偏好。结果显示,高水平自恋者比低水平自恋者有更明显的认知加工偏好;高显性自恋者比低显性自恋者对积极词具有记忆偏好,高隐性自恋者比低隐性自恋者对消极词具有记忆偏好。被试对与自己相关密切的信息具有更高的认知加工偏好,且对自己信息的这一优势更为明显;高显性自恋者比低显性自恋者对自己相关、熟悉人相关的积极信息具有认知加工偏好,高隐性自恋者较低隐性自恋者对自己相关的消极信息具有认知加工偏好。结果表明,不同类型自恋者对自我相关信息具有不同的认知加工偏好,不同类型的自恋对自我相关信息的认知加工过程和结果具有影响。     

Socialization and cognition in children between the age of 18 and 24 months

A cross-cultural study of mother–child dyads was set up to test the hypothesis that sociocultural differences, mediated by variations of maternal intervention, influence the way in which the child manipulates objects and, thereby, his cognitive and social competences. Two series of observations were conducted with three groups of children aged 18–24 months (15 from the American middle class, 15 from French families and 15 from North African families—the last two groups both underprivileged): (a) ‘naturalistic’ observations of two systems of interaction (child–mother and child–children interaction) showed that each child is characterized by one type of object manipulation (protected, induced, activated or autonomous) and that maternal intervention varies with the sociocultural background; assessment of the child's behavioural sequences unravelled his strategies for solving and avoiding conflicts with his peers; (b) observations of the child with a standardized material permitted an evaluation of his cognitive competences for spontaneous problem-solving. Regarding the assumptions of our hypothesis, the results furnish the following conclusions: (1) social and cognitive competences are related to the object manipulation type. In all samples, children characterized by ‘activated’ and ‘autonomous’ manipulation obtain the better results; (2) maternal intervention differs among the samples depending on the sociocultural background; these differences (limitation and physical contact) do not correspond to differences in types of manipulation; (3) type of manipulation is an interactive construction; it characterizes the functioning of the mother–child dyad and its prevailing dynamics between permanence and change. ©1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cognitive modifiability as a function of mother–child mediated learning strategies,mothers' acceptance–rejection,and children's personality

This study investigated (a) the effects of mediated learning experience (MLE) in mother–child interactions on cognitive modifiability as measured by dynamic assessment, (b) the effects of mothers' acceptance–rejection towards their children and the children's personality on the mothers' MLE strategies, (c) the combined effects of the mothers' acceptance–rejection, children's personality, and MLE strategies on children's cognitive modifiability, and (d) the prediction of cognitive modifiability by MLE interactions in two distinct conditions: free-play and structured. Fifty-four mother–child dyads (26 boys and 28 girls) in grade 2 were videotaped interacting in two situations: free-play and structured. The interactions were analysed with observation of mediation instrument using five criteria: intentionality and reciprocity, transcendence, meaning, feelings of competence, and regulation of behaviour. The children were administered the parent acceptance–rejection questionnaire, the personality assessment questionnaire, and the children's inferential thinking modifiability test. A distal–proximal factors of cognitive modifiability model was used to explain causal paths among mothers' acceptance–rejection and children's personality (distal) on MLE (proximal), and of both on children's cognitive modifiability. A structural equation model analysis revealed that (a) all MLE criteria were predicted by the distal factors of mothers' acceptance–rejection and children's personality, (b) none of the mothers' attitudes or children's personality factors explained the children's cognitive factors, (c) MLE criteria of transcendence and regulation of behaviour explained the children's CITM-post-teaching score but not the CITM-pre-teaching score. The results are discussed in relation to Feuerstein's MLE theory and Tzuriel's previous results with preschool children. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early maternal stimulation and the development of cognitive competence and attention of preterm infants

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between several dimensions of maternal interactive behaviours, and cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. Of special interest was the question of whether high levels of maternal stimulation and activity may have negative consequences for the development of preterm infants. Sixty-six preterm infants and their mothers were followed longitudinally and videotaped in interaction situations at home, at the infant age of 6, 9 and 12 months. Mothers behaviours were scored on involvement, sensitive responsiveness, non-intrusiveness and level of activity. Moreover, infant cognitive status was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months of age, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Infant ability in problem solving and attention were assessed in two problem solving tasks at 18 and 24 months of age. The results showed that infant cognitive status at 12 and 24 months was best predicted by maternal involvement and infant responsiveness. No significant relationships were found between maternal interactive behaviours and infant ability in problem solving and attention. More importantly, there was no indication that high levels of maternal stimulation or intrusiveness may have a negative impact on later cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neighborhood Poverty, Social Capital, and the Cognitive Development of African American Preschoolers

In this investigation, we examine the impact of the ecological context of the residential neighborhood on the cognitive development of children by considering social processes not only at the family-level but also at the neighborhood-level. In a socioeconomically diverse sample of 200 African American children living in 39 neighborhoods in Baltimore, we found that neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer problem-solving skills over and above the influence of family economic resources and level of positive parent involvement. Sampson has theorized that neighborhood poverty affects child well-being by altering levels of neighborhood social capital as well as family social capital. Although we found that indicators of neighborhood and family social capital were associated with cognitive skills, these factors did not explain the association between neighborhood poverty and problem-solving ability. Implications for future research in the area of neighborhoods and child development are discussed.     

The human first hypothesis: identification of conspecifics and individuation of objects in the young infant

How do infants individuate and track objects, and among them objects belonging to their species, when they can only rely on information about the properties of those objects? We propose the Human First Hypothesis (HFH), which posits that infants possess information about their conspecifics and use it to identify and count objects. F. Xu and S. Carey [Cognitive Psychology, 30(2), 111-153, 1996] argued that before the age of 1 year, infants fail to use property information. To explain their results, Xu and Carey proposed the Object First Hypothesis (OFH), according to which infants under 1 year of age have only the general concept of physical object to identify and count objects. We show that infants have a more extensive knowledge of sortals than that claimed by the OFH. When 10-month-olds see one humanlike and one non-humanlike object, they successfully identify and count them by using the contrast in their properties, as predicted by the HFH. We also show that infants succeed even when they make a decision based on differences between two close basic-level categories such as humanlike objects and doglike objects, but fail when they have to use differences within the human category. Thus, infants treat "human" as a basic sortal, as predicted by the HFH. We argue that our results cannot be accounted for by general purpose mechanisms. Neither the strong version of the OFH and its explanation in terms of object indexing mechanisms [A. M. Leslie, F. Xu, P. Tremoulet, & B. J. Scholl, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2(1), 10-18, 1998] nor explanations in terms of task demands [T. Wilcox & R. Baillargeon, Cognitive Psychology, 37(2), 97-155, 1998] are sufficient to explain our results.     

Explaining neurocognitive aging: is one factor enough?

As an introduction to the special issue on neurocognitive factors underlying age effects, we discuss a number of recent developments in the literature on aging. The classic distinction between generalized and process-specific cognitive changes with old age has reappeared in the distinctions between the frontal lobe hypothesis and more differentiated views of neurocognitive aging. We argue that neurological decay in the frontal cortex has important implications for cognitive control, but that the frontal lobe hypothesis does not capture the plethora of changes that characterize aging and incorrectly suggests a unitary effect.