The effects of acute resistance exercise on young and older males' working memory

ObjectivesThe aim of the current study was two-fold: to examine the effects of acute, moderate intensity resistance exercise (RE) on working memory in young and older males, respectively.DesignA two-study approach with a within-subjects design.MethodsStudy 1 recruited 20 young males aged 21–30 years. Participants underwent two experimental sessions, the exercise session and reading session, in a counterbalanced order. The RE protocol included two sets of 10 repetitions at 70% of 10-repetition maximum of eight muscle exercises. The Sternberg working memory paradigm with two probe types (in-set probes and out-of-set probes) was used as the cognitive task where reaction times (RT) and response accuracy were identified. Study 2 recruited 20 older male adults aged 65–72 years. The methods and experimental procedures were the same as Study 1.ResultsIn Study 1, young males demonstrated shorter RTs after the exercise treatment as compared with the reading treatment for both probe types. In Study 2, older males showed shorter RTs after the exercise treatment as compared with the reading treatment in the out-of-set probes only.ConclusionsWhile acute RE benefited working memory in both young and older males, rather than general facilitation, it was shown to have a disproportionately larger effect on older males for tasks involving higher working memory demands.     

In defence of high-speed memory scanning

This paper reviews some of the evidence that bears on the existence of a mental high-speed serial exhaustive scanning process (SES) used by humans to interrogate the active memory of a set of items to determine whether it contains a test item. First proposed in the 1960s, based on patterns of reaction times (RTs), numerous later studies supported, elaborated, extended, and limited the generality of SES, while critics claimed that SES never occurred, that predictions from SES were violated, and that other mechanisms produced the RT patterns that led to the idea. I show that some of these claims result from ignoring variations in experimental procedure that produce superficially similar but quantitatively different RT patterns and that, for the original procedures, the most frequently repeated claims that predictions are violated are false. I also discuss evidence against the generality of competing theories of active-memory interrogation, especially those that depend on discrimination of directly accessible “memory-strength”. Some of this evidence has been available since the 1960s but has been ignored by some proponents of alternative theories. Other evidence presented herein is derived from results of one relevant experiment described for the first time, results of another described in more detail than heretofore, and new analyses of old data. Knowledge of brain function acquired during the past half century has increased the plausibility of SES. The conclusion: SES is alive and well, but many associated puzzles merit further investigation, suggestions for which are offered.     

An exploration of the effectiveness of in-person and online versions of the induced hypocrisy paradigm to reduce smartphone use among young drivers

Worldwide, smartphone use is a major contributing factor to road crash among young drivers. While young drivers may be aware of their heightened crash risk and the legal penalties associated with this behaviour, young drivers continue to engage with their smartphones. The development of novel interventions targeting this behaviour is therefore crucial. The current 2 × 2 between groups experimental study (N = 153, 107F, 43 M, 1 other) investigated the concept of cognitive dissonance in relation to smartphone use among young drivers aged 17–25 years (M_age = 20.66 SD = 2.26). Specifically, it applied the induced hypocrisy paradigm to this context. The induced hypocrisy paradigm elicits cognitive dissonance by asking participants to both advocate for the desired behaviour and identify their engagement in the undesired behaviour. Participants are then motivated to change their behaviour to reduce the feelings of dissonance. The current study investigated the efficacy of both the traditional in-person methodology with a new online methodology. Analyses (e.g., ANCOVA) found that the online conditions were more effective than the in-person groups at eliciting dissonance and that the intervention conditions were more effective in reducing both intention and change in behaviour (from pre- to post-intervention) than the control groups. The intervention groups were also more likely to take/request a flyer about driver distraction. While more research is needed to corroborate these findings, these initial results suggest that cognitive dissonance occurs when young drivers use their smartphones and that the induced hypocrisy paradigm may be an effective intervention. In particular, this study’s findings suggest that an online version of the induced hypocrisy paradigm has merit and may form part of future cost-effective, mass interventions.     

反刍思维与注意脱离损坏的关系及其神经机制

反刍思维是一种重复性的消极思维, 会让个体将注意集中在消极痛苦的事情上。研究表明, 反刍思维和注意脱离损坏虽然是相互独立的概念, 但是二者却存在着密切的联系, 具体表现在注意脱离损坏会预测个体的反刍思维以及反刍思维有关的注意脱损坏可能是受到意识控制的。同时, 反刍思维的类型和自我相关性在反刍思维和注意脱离损坏关系中的作用依然需要进一步探究。另外, 注意脱离有关的训练明显地改善了个体的反刍思维。并且, 杏仁核的过度激活, 前扣带回(anterior cingulate cortex, ACC)对自我相关消极信息的调节异常, 右背外侧前额叶(dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, DLPFC)的活动异常以及与注意有关的脑神经网络的结构和功能的异常可能是反刍思维和注意脱离损坏相互影响的原因。     

编码意识对注意促进效应的影响——基于R/K范式的研究

注意促进效应指学习阶段采用目标探测性质的二级任务,不仅不会降低同时呈现的背景信息的编码加工,反而会促进其记忆。为进一步探究对背景信息的编码意识是否会影响该效应,本研究设置了有意与无意两种编码条件,并引入“记得/知道”判断进一步将再认区分为回想和熟悉性。结果表明,无意编码下也会产生ABE,但不同的编码条件下,目标探测所促进的背景信息的编码加工存在差异。有意编码条件下,目标探测促进的更多是对背景信息的精细加工,而无意编码条件下,目标探测促进的更多是对背景信息的知觉加工。     

Psychometric Evaluation of a Controlled Social Affiliation Paradigm: Findings From Anxiety,Depressive Disorder,and Healthy Samples

Social impairments are common across many psychiatric conditions. Standardized dyadic assessments intended to elicit social affiliation between unacquainted partners are used to elucidate mechanisms that disrupt relationship formation and inform possible treatment targets; however, the psychometric properties of such paradigms remain poorly understood. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a controlled social affiliation paradigm intended to induce connectedness between a target participant and trained confederate. Individuals with an anxiety or depressive disorder diagnosis (clinical group; n = 132) and those without (control group; n = 35) interacted face-to-face with a trained confederate; partners took turns answering a series of increasingly intimate questions about themselves. Social connectedness, affect, and affiliative behavior measures were collected during the interaction. Participant symptom and social functioning measures were collected to examine validity. The paradigm elicited escalating social connectedness throughout the task for both participants and confederates. Parallel forms (i.e., different question sets) elicited similar affiliation outcomes. Self-reported (but not behavioral) affiliation differed across some demographic variables (e.g., participant gender, Hispanic ethnicity). Within-task affiliation measures were associated with one another and with global social connectedness and social anxiety symptom measures, but not with somatic anxiety measures. Clinical participants reported lower social affiliation and positive affect reactivity and higher negative affect reactivity than healthy participants. These findings provide initial psychometric support for a standardized and controlled dyadic affiliation paradigm that could be used to reliably probe social disconnection mechanisms across psychopathology.     

The role of attention at retrieval on the false recognition of negative emotional DRM lists

This study examined the role of attention at retrieval on the false recognition of emotional items using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Previous research has shown that divided attention at test increases false remember judgements for neutral critical lures. However, no research has yet directly assessed emotional false memories when attention is manipulated at retrieval. To examine this, participants studied negative (low in valence and high in arousal) and neutral DRM lists and completed recognition tests under conditions of full and divided attention. Results revealed that divided attention at retrieval increased false remember judgements for all critical lures compared to retrieval under full attention, but in both retrieval conditions, false memories were greater for negative compared to neutral stimuli. We believe that this is due to reliance on a more easily accessible (meaning of the word) but less diagnostic form of source monitoring, amplified under conditions of divided attention.     

中文词类信息在副中央凹中的加工

本研究采用边界范式, 通过操纵预视词和目标词的词类一致性探讨中文阅读中副中央凹中能否加工词类信息。实验采用单因素3水平设计, 三种预视条件: 一致预视、词类不违背预视、词类违背预视。对实验数据进行线性混合模型及贝叶斯分析发现: 词类违背条件和词类不违背条件下对目标词的注视时间和注视概率没有显著差异, 即无词类信息的预视效应。该结果倾向于支持序列注意转移模型, 眼动控制模型的未来发展应更加关注灵活性和普适性。     

群体身份变换性对老年人印象更新的影响：共同内群体认同的中介作用

群体印象更新对于促进群际和谐具有重要的现实意义。本研究采用最简群体再分类范式, 通过4个实验考察了群体身份变换性对老年人外显与内隐印象更新的影响以及共同内群体认同的中介作用。结果发现, 群体身份变换性不仅改变了对最简外群体的印象评价, 而且也提升了年轻人对自然外群体老年人的外显印象评价, 但内隐印象评价的改变不明显; 共同内群体认同在群体身份变换性影响老年人的外显印象更新中起完全中介作用。这些发现不仅从群体身份变换性的视角进一步丰富和拓展了印象更新领域, 而且为群际互动中的偏见消除提供了最简群体再分类新方法。     

文化视域下文化神经科学学科主张与检讨

文化神经科学是在宏大的文化背景下来全面深入考察个体的"心理、行为与脑认知机制"之间规律的一门学科。文化神经科学所倡导的神经-文化交互作用模型表明该学科以融合视野引领心理学研究范式的变革成为可能。同时,从文化学视野来审视,亦折射出其在文化学层面的短板,即人文精神与文化意蕴在"文化"名义下日渐式微。