Intelligence and physical attractiveness

This brief research note aims to estimate the magnitude of the association between general intelligence and physical attractiveness with large nationally representative samples from two nations. In the United Kingdom, attractive children are more intelligent by 12.4 IQ points (r = .381), whereas in the United States, the correlation between intelligence and physical attractiveness is somewhat smaller (r = .126). The association between intelligence and physical attractiveness is stronger among men than among women in both nations. The association remains significant net of a large number of control variables for social class, body size, and health.     

On the automaticity of emotion processing in words and faces: event-related brain potentials evidence from a superficial task

The degree to which emotional aspects of stimuli are processed automatically is controversial. Here, we assessed the automatic elicitation of emotion-related brain potentials (ERPs) to positive, negative, and neutral words and facial expressions in an easy and superficial face-word discrimination task, for which the emotional valence was irrelevant. Both emotional words and facial expressions impacted ERPs already between 50 and 100 ms after stimulus onset, possibly reflecting rapid relevance detection. Following this initial processing stage only emotionality in faces but not in words was associated with an early posterior negativity (EPN). Therefore, when emotion is irrelevant in a task which requires superficial stimulus analysis, automatically enhanced sensory encoding of emotional content appears to occur only for evolutionary prepared emotional stimuli, as reflected in larger EPN amplitudes to faces, but not to symbolic word stimuli.     

Perceived Conflict and Leader Dominance: Individual and Contextual Factors Behind Preferences for Dominant Leaders

Recent research finds that political candidates and leaders with dominant, masculine physical features are more preferred under conditions of conflict than of cooperation. Importantly, however, methodological limitations of past research have hindered the identification of whether this effect reflects that voters intuitively view (1) dominant leaders as more competent in solving problems of conflict, (2) nondominant leaders as more competent in solving problems of cooperation, or (3) both. In this article, we utilize recent advances in evolutionary psychology to form precise predictions on the nature of the underlying psychology and employ an unprecedented array of data types—including highly controlled experiments, natural experiments, and behavioral measures—to investigate the validity of these predictions. Using large approximately nationally representative surveys of 2,009 Poles and Ukrainians fielded during the Crimea crisis in 2014, we find that preferences for leader dominance are exclusively driven by the intuition that dominant leaders are better able to facilitate aggressive responses during social conflict and that these preferences are regulated by contextual conditions and individual predispositions related to such responses.     

The effects of emotion priming on visual search in socially anxious adults

This study examined the effects of emotion priming on visual search in participants characterised for different levels of social anxiety. Participants were primed with five facial emotions (angry, fear, happy, neutral, and surprised) and one scrambled face immediately prior to visual search trials involving finding a slanted coloured line amongst distractors, as reaction times and accuracy to target detection were recorded. Results suggest that for individuals low in social anxiety, being primed with an angry, surprised, or fearful face facilitated visual search compared to being primed with scrambled, neutral or happy faces. However, these same emotions degraded visual search in participants with high levels of social anxiety. This study expands on previous research on the impact of emotion on attention, finding that amongst socially anxious individuals, the effects of priming with threat extend beyond initial attention capture or disengagement, degrading later visual search.     

阈上阈下不同面孔表情下的注视线索提示效应

为考察阈上、阈下不同面孔表情下的注视线索提示效应, 实验以阈上和阈下面孔的不同注视朝向为提示线索, 同时变化面孔表情, 要求被试迅速和准确地对随后出现的靶刺激(大写字母)的呈现位置做出判断。结果显示, 在阈上呈现条件下, 注视线索提示效应显著, 且该效应不受面孔表情的影响。在阈下呈现条件下, 注视线索提示效应显著, 但该效应受到了面孔表情的调节, 表现为在注视线索无效时, 判断目标位置所需反应时在正性、负性面孔表情下显著长于中性面孔条件。上述结果说明, 阈上知觉时, 面孔表情虽被清晰感知, 但个体自上而下的控制机制使其被忽略, 因而未能影响个体的注意偏向; 阈下知觉时, 面孔表情得到自动加工, 并影响了个体的注意偏向。     

动态面孔和语音情绪信息的整合加工及神经生理机制

面孔、语音情绪信息的整合加工是社会交往的重要技能, 近年来逐渐引起心理学、神经科学研究的关注。当前研究较为系统地考察了双通道情绪信息整合加工的行为表现和影响因素, 也很好地回答了“何时整合”与“在哪里整合”两个认知神经科学关注的问题, 但对“面孔、语音情绪信息能否整合为一致情绪客体？双通道情绪信息在大脑中如何整合为一？”两个关键问题都还缺乏系统研究。因此, 本项目拟系统操纵面孔、语音刺激的情绪凸显度和任务要求, 引入动态面孔-语音刺激以增加外部效度, 综合运用行为和电生理技术, 从多角度挖掘数据, 特别是引入神经振荡(时频、相干)分析, 系统考察动态性面孔和语音情绪信息是否能整合成一致情绪客体, 并在神经振荡层面探明双通道情绪信息整合的机制。     

男性对女性面孔吸引力的认知偏好: 来自ERP的证据

运用事件相关电位(ERPs)技术, 采用学习-再认实验任务, 探讨了男性对有、无吸引力女性面孔图片进行判断和再认时脑内时程的动态变化。行为数据结果表明, 男性对有吸引力女性面孔的反应时更长, 再认正确率更高。ERP结果发现, 有、无吸引力面孔诱发的ERP早成分和晚成分都存在显著差异, 最强效应出现在大脑皮层的中前部。在判断任务和再认任务中, 有吸引力的女性面孔都比无吸引力的女性面孔诱发出更大的ERP成分(分别为N300、P350~550ms和P160、N300~500ms、P500~700ms)。结果表明, 男性对有吸引力的女性面孔的判断和再认存在偏好。     

听障儿童外部情绪理解研究

通过自编的外部情绪理解问卷,考察了听障儿童表情识别、情绪情景识别和提示物理解等外部情绪理解三个成分的发展状况。结果表明:(1)听力障碍儿童在外部情绪整体理解、表情识别、情绪情景识别和提示物理解四方面的得分都显著低于普通儿童;(2)不同年级听力障碍儿童的外部情绪理解、表情识别、情绪情景识别和提示物理解四方面得分存在显著差异,不同性别听力障碍儿童外部情绪理解差异不显著;年级和性别的交互作用显著;(3)父母听力状况不同的听障儿童,其外部情绪理解水平差异显著。DD儿童的外部情绪整体理解、表情识别和情绪情景识别得分显著高于DH儿童。     

Children's ability to distinguish between enjoyment and non‐enjoyment smiles

Children's ability to distinguish between enjoyment and non‐enjoyment smiles was investigated by presenting participants with short video excerpts of smiles. Enjoyment smiles differed from non‐enjoyment smiles by greater symmetry and by appearance changes produced in the eye region by the Cheek Raiser action. The results indicate that 6‐ and 7‐year‐old children have the abilities to detect these differences and are able to interpret them with above chance‐level accuracy. Sensitivity was higher for the symmetry of the smiles than for the appearance changes produced in the eye region and improved in later childhood. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

国内同行关于异体颜面移植的讨论

换脸术为严重毁容患者重获美容带来了新希望。但是就像很多新生事物一样,在国内引起了激烈的争论。我们以丁香园上的帖子为基础,对国内同行的争论进行了总结,以期对异体颜面移植这一成果有一深入的认识。通过初步分析可以看出,虽然对于这一课题争论比较大,但是广大医护人员还是认可此次手术,并认为这是创新。