Divergent effects of healthy ageing on semantic knowledge and control: Evidence from novel comparisons with semantically impaired patients

Effective use of semantic knowledge requires a set of conceptual representations and control processes which ensure that currently relevant aspects of this knowledge are retrieved and selected. It is well-established that levels of semantic knowledge increase across the lifespan. However, the effects of ageing on semantic control processes have not been assessed. I addressed this issue by comparing the performance profiles of young and older people on a verbal comprehension test. Two sets of variables were used to predict accuracy and RT in each group: (1) the psycholinguistic properties of words probed in each trial and (2) the performance on each trial by two groups of semantically impaired neuropsychological patients. Young people demonstrated poor performance for low-frequency and abstract words, suggesting that they had difficulty processing words with intrinsically weak semantic representations. Indeed, performance in this group was strongly predicted by the performance of patients with semantic dementia, who suffer from degradation of semantic knowledge. In contrast, older adults performed poorly on trials where the target semantic relationship was weak and distractor relationships strong – conditions which require high levels of controlled processing. Their performance was not predicted by the performance of semantic dementia patients, but was predicted by the performance of patients with semantic control deficits. These findings indicate that the effects of ageing on semantic cognition are more complex than has previously been assumed. While older people have larger stores of knowledge than young people, they appear to be less skilled at exercising control over the activation of this knowledge.     

认知疲劳效应对内隐记忆与外显记忆的影响

本研究通过比较内隐记忆与外显记忆受到认知疲劳影响的情况,以了解内隐记忆的自动化加工机制。实验采用被试内设计,使用词汇判断与词汇再认任务测量内隐记忆与外显记忆。实验结果发现,相对于控制组,疲劳组的被试在完成疲劳任务后内隐记忆成绩显著下降,而外显记忆没有受到影响。结果说明相对于外显记忆,内隐记忆更容易受到认知疲劳影响。内隐记忆虽然是无意识的认知加工,但是与其他自动化加工具有不同的特征。     

基于分部评分模型思路的多级评分认知诊断模型开发

基于分部评分模型的思路, 本文提出了一般化的分部评分认知诊断模型(General Partial Credit Diagnostic Model, GPCDM), 与国际上已有的基于分部评分模型思路的多级评分模型GDM (von Davier, 2008)和PC-DINA (de la Torre, 2012)相比, GPCDM的Q矩阵定义更加灵活, 项目参数的约束条件更少。Monte Carlo实验研究表明, GPCDM模型的参数估计精度指标RMSE介于[0.015, 0.043], 表明估计精度尚可; TIMSS (2007)实证数据应用研究表明, 与GDM和PC-DINA模型相比, GPCDM与该数据的拟合度更好, 并且使用GPCDM分析该数据的诊断效果也更优。总之, 本研究提供了一种约束条件更少、功能更为强大的多级评分认知诊断模型。     

Adding emotionality to seductive details—Consequences for learning?

According to the seductive detail effect, adding interesting but irrelevant information (i.e., seductive details) can be detrimental to learning success. In this study, it was explored within two experiments whether the valence of text‐based seductive details might affect learning outcomes differently. For Experiments 1 and 2, we pretested text‐based seductive details for their emotional valence (n = 32 or n = 25 students, respectively). For the main studies of Experiments 1 (n = 105) and 2 (n = 131), university students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions that varied with respect to the presence of seductive details and their emotional valence (no vs. positive vs. negative vs. neutral). Unexpectedly, results revealed in both experiments no seductive details effect and also no differences between the three seductive detail conditions for the used learning outcome measures retention and transfer. Possible reasons for these findings and their implications are discussed.     

Unfounded beliefs among teachers: The interactive role of rationality priming and cognitive ability

Previous research suggests that unfounded beliefs (UB)—such as conspiracist beliefs and beliefs in the supernatural—stem from similar cognitive and motivational mechanisms. More specifically, it has been demonstrated that cognitive ability is negatively associated with UB but only among individuals who value epistemic rationality. The present study goes beyond previous correlational studies by examining whether the negative association between cognitive ability and UB can be strengthened through a subtle rationality prime. In a large scale online experiment (N = 762 French teachers), we demonstrate that priming rationality (vs. control) does enhance the negative relationship between cognitive ability and adherence to supernatural beliefs, as well as conspiracy mentality (d = 0.2). This effect was not obtained for illusory pattern perception. This study's usefulness as a “proof of concept” for future interventions aimed at reducing UB prevalence among the general public is discussed.     

A Self‐Report Measure of Productive Thinking in Solving Insight Problems

There is broad agreement among executives on the importance of innovation and creativity in organizations. The paper aimed to provide information on the effectiveness of a new cognitive style inventory, the Productive‐Reproductive Thinking Inventory (P‐R), in identifying people with creative problem‐solving potential. Participants completed the P‐R Inventory, Kirton's Adaption‐Innovation Inventory (KAI), the Assimilator‐Explorer Inventory, self‐rating of insight problem‐solving, and a battery of insight problem‐solving tasks under controlled conditions. The P‐R scale was a significant predictor of problem‐solving performance and insight self‐ratings and correlated significantly with KAI and AE scores. In addition, the results supported distinguishing two types of reproductive thinking which are differentially associated with insight performance. The distinction was supported by confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models. Using controlled conditions may limit the generality of the findings and further research should be carried out in applied settings. The P‐R inventory is short and easily administered and may provide HR professionals with a useful screening tool for assessing creative problem‐solving potential. The measure differs from the KAI in several ways that may offer advantages for creativity researchers in that it is non‐proprietary, based on well‐established psychological constructs, and is more particularly applicable to insight problem‐solving.     

Early executive functioning in a global context: Developmental continuity and family protective factors

This study extends the methodological and theoretical understanding of executive functions (EFs) in preschoolers from low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC). First, the authors describe a rigorous process of adapting and evaluating six EF tasks to produce a culturally and developmentally appropriate measure of emerging EFs in a large sample of at‐risk children in rural Pakistan. Next, the authors identify critical developmental and family factors that relate to preschoolers’ EFs over the first 4 years of life. Direct assessment of children's general cognitive skills at age two showed developmental continuity with EFs at age four, and these early cognitive skills mediated the effect of an antecedent parenting intervention on EFs as well as associations of targeted individual and family factors with EFs. Furthermore, directly assessed maternal cognitive capacities and observed maternal scaffolding uniquely predicted EFs in preschoolers. This study is also the first to demonstrate a significant overlap between direct assessments of IQ and EFs in young children from LMIC. Children's general intelligence mediated the associations of EFs with antecedent physical growth and cognitive skills as well as concurrent family factors (maternal verbal intelligence, maternal scaffolding, and home stimulation). After controlling for shared variance between preschoolers’ general intelligence and EFs, three factors emerged as unique predictors of EFs: exposure to an early parenting intervention, physical growth status at age two, and number of older siblings. The findings have important implications for the design of interventions that aim to improve EFs in young children in LMIC. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/316329544/5abde94cd7     

Negative affect varying in motivational intensity influences scope of memory

Emotions influence cognitive processes involved in memory. While some research has suggested that cognitive scope is determined by affective valence, recent models of emotion–cognition interactions suggest that motivational intensity, rather than valence, influences these processes. The present research was designed to clarify how negative affects differing in motivational intensity impact memory for centrally or peripherally presented information. Experiments 1 & 2 found that, relative to a neutral condition, high intensity negative affect (anger) enhances memory for centrally presented information. Experiment 3 replicated this effect using another high intensity negative affect (threat). Experiment 4 extended this by finding that, relative to a neutral condition, low intensity negative affect (sadness) enhanced memory for peripherally presented information. Finally, in Experiment 5, the effects of sadness and threat on scope of memory were directly compared, finding that threat narrowed scope of memory, while sadness broadened scope of memory. Together, these results provide additional support for the motivational dimensional model of cognitive scope, in that high intensity emotions narrow cognitive scope, while low intensity emotions broaden cognitive scope.     

自我客体化影响认知表现的研究现状

自我客体化的女性会内化他人的评价,把自己当做物品一样来定义和评价自我,并习惯性地对自己的身体以及外貌进行监测,从而导致身体羞耻、焦虑、“心流”体验的减少及身体内部感知的迟钝,并进一步造成更多的不良后果。以往的研究多关注于自我客体化在女性心理健康上造成的影响,很少有研究关注于自我客体户对认知表现的影响。本文梳理了自我客体户与认知表现的相关研究,以及自我客体户对认知表现可能的作用机制。未来研究需要从多方面来丰富自我客体化的操纵方式,通过实验的方式来检验自我客体化对认知表现的作用机制,以及考察不同的认知表现,并关注自我客体化对认知表现的累积效应。     

第三方惩罚的演化与认知机制

第三方惩罚一般是指当违反社会规范的行为与自身利益无关时,个体牺牲自我利益来惩罚违规者的行为。最近的研究发现,对于个体而言,第三方惩罚是一种具有适应性的信号,包括建立良好的声誉以及威慑违规者。不同情境下第三方惩罚的功能有所差异,它是一种特殊的利他行为。第三方惩罚依赖于多个系统,涉及情绪反应、共情等社会认知能力以及认知控制等中央执行能力。探讨该行为的演化和认知机制也能贡献于个体、群体和人际层面的社会心理服务工作。