Manipulating memory associations changes decision-making preferences in a preconditioning task

Memories of past experiences can guide our decisions. Thus, if memories are undermined or distorted, decision making should be affected. Nevertheless, little empirical research has been done to examine the role of memory in reinforcement decision-making. We hypothesized that if memories guide choices in a conditioning decision-making task, then manipulating these memories would result in a change of decision preferences to gain reward. We manipulated participants’ memories by providing false feedback that their memory associations were wrong before they made decisions that could lead them to win money. Participants’ memory ratings decreased significantly after receiving false feedback. More importantly, we found that false feedback led participants’ decision bias to disappear after their memory associations were undermined. Our results suggest that reinforcement decision-making can be altered by false feedback on memories. The results are discussed using memory mechanisms such as spreading activation theories.     

“Aha!” is stronger when preceded by a “huh?”: presentation of a solution affects ratings of aha experience conditional on accuracy

Insight has been investigated under the assumption that participants solve insight problems with insight processes and/or experiences. A recent trend has involved presenting participants with the solution and analysing the resultant experience as if insight has taken place. We examined self-reports of the aha experience, a defining aspect of insight, before and after feedback, along with additional affective components of insight (e.g., pleasure, surprise, impasse). Classic insight problems, compound remote associates, and non-insight problems were randomly interleaved and presented to participants. Solution feedback increased ratings of aha experience in both insight and non-insight problems, with this result being driven by responses to solutions that were initially incorrectly generated. Ratings of aha for correctly generated solutions decreased after the correct solution was presented. These findings have implications for insight research paradigms as well as informing teaching methods.     

“I know you can do this” versus “How can you be so stupid?” Feedback among Chinese and American young adult friends

According to past research, young adults prefer positive feedback from their friends, but emotional reactions to negative feedback are less severe in Korea than in the United States. We extended this past work in several ways: We studied both giving and receiving feedback, recruited Chinese young adults, used realistic scenarios, and employed the situation‐sampling method. Using text‐message‐based vignettes, Study 1 found that both American and Chinese friends used happy emojis when exchanging positive feedback whereas Americans used less positive emojis than did the Chinese when exchanging negative feedback. We then collected actual examples of feedback that people had given to their friends (Study 2a) and showed them to new samples of Chinese and American young adults (Study 2b). This situation‐sampling methodology found that (a) Americans rated negative feedback from both cultures especially negatively, and (b) negative feedback examples from China were rated especially negatively by people in both cultures. That is, although Chinese negative feedback is seemingly more harsh, Chinese young adults do not react as negatively.     

Restorative effects of awe on negative affect after receiving negative performance feedback

The present study investigated the discrete positive effects of awe on negative job affect (NJA) arising from receiving negative performance feedback from a work supervisor or a co-worker. The participants were 131 business professionals and students at a large university in Kenya (females = 46%; age range 25 to 65 years). They participated in an experiment in which the emotion of awe was manipulated in an imagined situation where the participants received negative performance feedback from either a work supervisor or co-worker. Regression analyses of the data indicated that awe predicted a lower negative affect for negative feedback. Moreover, the indirect effects of the source of feedback on negative affect modulation were more significant for feedback received from co-workers than from supervisors. The positive emotion of awe may help one cope with negative performance feedback in a work setting.     

重复信任博弈的决策过程与结果评价

“信任他人或者不信任他人?”是社会互动中经常面临一种行为决择, 直接影响着个体的社会生活。作为一种重要的社会信号机制, 信任是建立良好社会关系的基石, 它能够降低社会交易成本, 易化合作行为。为了探究个体在信任互动情境下大脑活动变化的时间动态特征, 采用事件相关电位技术记录了20名健康被试(充当信任者)完成重复性信任博弈任务(repeated Trust Game, rTG)时的脑电成分。行为结果发现个体选择信任的比例显著高于几率水平。电生理学结果表明, 决策阶段中不信任选择比信任选择诱发了更正的P2成分(150~250 ms), 差异波溯源分析定位于额中回(middle frontal gyrus, BA 46)和额下回(inferior frontal gyrus, BA 46)。反馈阶段中损失反馈比获益反馈诱发了更负的FRN成分(200~300 ms), 而获益反馈比损失反馈诱发了更短的P300潜伏期。本研究为理解人类信任博弈过程的动态加工时程提供了初步的神经电生理学证据。     

小学儿童分享的发展及反馈信息的促进效应

研究以独裁者博弈任务为载体,考查了小学儿童分享行为的发展趋势,并探讨了不同来源的正向反馈信息对于儿童分享行为的促进效应。研究随机选取了小学二、四、六年级的学生共386名,每个年级的三个实验组在自然分享条件后分别接受来自权威、同伴和自我的正向反馈信息,继而完成后续任务。结果表明:(1)在自然分享情况下,六年级儿童的分享数量显著多于二、四年级儿童的分享数量;随着年级升高,儿童从倾向于利己分享逐渐转为以平分为主;(2)来自同伴和权威的正向反馈可以提高二、四年级儿童的分享数量;自我评价的正向反馈明显提高四、六年级儿童的分享数量。结论:小学儿童的分享数量和进行平分的人数比例都随年级升高而增加,来自同伴、权威和自我的正向反馈分别适用于特定年龄阶段儿童的分享行为促进。     

社交网站中的自我呈现对青少年友谊质量的影响:积极反馈的中介作用

随着网络的日益普及,社交网站已成为人们活动的新领域和人际交往的新媒介。为探讨社交网站中不同的自我呈现方式、积极反馈与友谊质量的关系,采用问卷法对来自武汉市两所普通中学的817名10~19岁的学生进行调查,其中,男生423人,女生366人。研究采用偏差矫正的百分位Bootstrap法,使用Hayes(2012)编制的SPSS宏对中介效应进行检验,结果发现:(1)真实自我呈现和积极自我呈现与积极反馈、友谊质量显著正相关;(2)社交网站中的真实自我呈现既能直接预测青少年的友谊质量,也能通过积极反馈的中介作用对友谊质量产生影响,而积极自我呈现对青少年的友谊质量没有直接预测作用,只能通过积极反馈的完全中介作用对友谊质量产生影响。     

面孔情绪识别过程中的多通道效应

摘 要 面孔情绪识别过程中的多感觉通道效应指参与刺激加工的各个通道对面孔表情认知的综合影响。研究者们通过行为实验、事件相关电位以及脑成像技术等对该过程中的多个获取信息的通道进行研究,肢体表情、情绪性声音、特定气味能系统地影响面孔表情的情绪识别。一系列的研究对多通道效应的作用时间、潜在作用机制、相关激活脑区进行了探索。未来的研究可以整合脑网络的技术,并结合其他学科的新技术以更细致具体地考察这些通道下信息的物理属性所起的作用。 关键词 面孔表情 多通道效应 面孔情绪识别 肢体表情 情绪性声音 嗅觉信号