前瞻记忆的情绪一致性反转效应

采用经典双任务实验范式,探讨前瞻记忆的情绪一致性效应及其理论模型。情绪电影片段诱发被试高兴或悲伤情绪后,观察被试在高兴、悲伤和自然情绪状态下的前瞻记忆任务和当前任务的成绩。结果发现,情绪一致性前瞻记忆出现反转效应,即在高兴背景下前瞻记忆负性词比正性词成绩好,在悲伤背景下前瞻记忆正性词比负性词成绩好。实验结果支持前瞻记忆的注意—搜索模型,不支持自动激活模型。     

内隐人格观对他人知觉的影响

以大学生为被试,采用投射测验法分离出两类不同性质的内隐人格观,然后通过效价匹配实验和错觉关联实验,初步探讨了内隐人格观对他人知觉的信息加工模式的影响。研究结果表明:(1)跨性格、能力等不同人格属性有共通一致的内隐观;(2)固存观的反面就是渐变观,它们是同一维度的两极;(3)与渐变观者相比,固存观者更易以一种评价性方式知觉他人信息;同时,渐变观者不像固存观者那样对他人特质作出静态判断,而是集中注意力于理解他人行为发生的动态过程。     

负性情绪词语在外显和内隐记忆测验中的定向遗忘效应

以两类具有不同负性情绪强度值的高频汉语双字词为材料,采用项目法定向遗忘范式,探究负性情绪词语在外显和内隐记忆测验中是否存在定向遗忘效应。结果显示,(1)在外显记忆测验中,强、弱负性词均出现了显著的定向遗忘并且弱负性词的定向遗忘效应大于强负性词;(2)在内隐记忆测验中,只有弱负性词出现了显著的定向遗忘,而强负性词则无。可见,内隐记忆测验中的定向遗忘效应对负性信息比外显记忆测验更加敏感。     

恋人概念威胁启动削弱自我和恋人面孔优势效应:来自眼动研究的证据

采用眼动记录技术和恋人概念威胁启动范式探讨自我和恋人面孔优势效应的产生和维持过程。结果发现:与概念非威胁启动条件下相比,概念威胁启动条件下,被试搜索恋人面孔时的兴趣区个数和搜索自我面孔时的平均眼跳次数与搜索陌生人面孔时比差异变得不显著;恋人面孔与陌生人面孔在兴趣区内总注视时间上的差异变得不显著。结果表明,自我与恋人面孔存在注意的优先捕获和维持优势,恋人概念的威胁启动会减少对恋人的关注,证明了建立恋人的积极概念是恋人面孔优势效应产生和维持的重要原因。     

A Below‐Average Effect with Respect to American Political Stereotypes on Warmth and Competence

The “above‐average effect” is the phenomenon that people tend to judge themselves above average on desirable traits. Based on social identity theory, we propose that a “below‐average effect” may arise when individuals rate themselves and the average ingroup member on traits stereotypically associated with the ingroup. In two studies, Republican and Democrat participants rated themselves and the average political ingroup member on possession of desirable traits related to warmth and competence. Current political stereotypes in America associate the former dimension with Democrats and the latter with Republicans. Consistent with our hypothesis, the above‐average effect was moderated by political group and dimension in interaction. In particular, Democrats rated themselves below the average Democrat on warmth and Republicans rated themselves below the average Republican on competence.     

Embodiment Effects and Language Comprehension in Alzheimer's Disease

It has been shown that when participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences that describe a transfer of an object toward or away from their body, they are faster to respond when the response requires a movement in the same direction as the transfer described in the sentence. This phenomenon is known as the action compatibility effect (ACE). This study investigates whether the ACE exists for volunteers with Alzheimer's disease (AD), whether the ACE can facilitate language comprehension, and also whether the ACE can still be produced if the order of the two events is inverted, that is, whether overt movement can prime comprehension of transfer sentences. In Study 1, participants with AD, younger, and older adults were tested on an adaptation of the ACE Paradigm. In Study 2, the same paradigm was modified to include an arm movement that participants had to perform prior to sentence exposure on screen. In Study 1, young, older adults, and individuals with AD were faster to respond when the direction of the response movement matched the directionality implied by the sentence (ACE). In Study 2, no traditional ACE was found; participants were faster when the direction of the movement immediately preceding the sentence matched the directionality of the sentence. It was found that compatibility effects generated a relative advantage, that transfer schemata are easier to process, and that an ACE‐like effect can be the result of mutual priming between language and movement. Results suggested preservation in AD of the neural systems for action engaged during language comprehension, and conditions under which comprehension in AD can be facilitated in real life may be identified.     

An investigation of DIF mechanisms in the context of differential testlet effects

This study investigated differential item functioning (DIF) mechanisms in the context of differential testlet effects across subgroups. Specifically, we investigated DIF manifestations when the stochastic ordering assumption on the nuisance dimension in a testlet does not hold. DIF hypotheses were formulated analytically using a parametric marginal item response function approach and compared with empirical DIF results from a unidimensional item response theory approach. The comparisons were made in terms of type of DIF (uniform or non‐uniform) and direction (whether the focal or reference group was advantaged). In general, the DIF hypotheses were supported by the empirical results, showing the usefulness of the parametric approach in explaining DIF mechanisms. Both analytical predictions of DIF and the empirical results provide insights into conditions where a particular type of DIF becomes dominant in a specific DIF direction, which is useful for the study of DIF causes.     

Too much anticipation? Large anticipatory adjustments of grasping movements to minimal object manipulations

When humans grasp objects, the grasps foreshadow the intended object manipulation. It has been suggested that grasps are selected that lead to medial arm postures, which facilitate movement speed and precision, during critical phases of the object manipulation. In Experiment 1, it has been tested whether grasp selections lead to medial postures during rotations of a dial. Participants twisted their arms considerably before grasping the dial, even when the upcoming dial rotation was minimal (5°). Participants neither assumed a medial posture at any point during a short rotation, nor did they assume any of the postures involved in short rotations in the opposite direction. Thus, grasp selections did not necessarily lead to specific postures at any point of the object manipulation. Experiment 2 examined the effect of various grasps on the speed of dial rotations. A medial initial grasp resulted in the fastest dial rotations for most rotation angles. Spontaneously selected grasps were more excursed than necessary to maximize dial rotation speed. This apparent overshot might be explained by participants’ sensitive to the variability of their grasps and is in line with the assumption that grasps facilitate control over the grasped object.