Accurate identification but no priming and chance recognition memory for pictures in RSVP sequences

In 1969, Potter and Levy reported that recognition memory of accurately perceived RSVP pictures was extremely low, an effect that they attributed to disruption of memory consolidation. Here we report that the repetition of an RSVP picture (72-126 msec/picture) up to 31 times prior to when it became a target had no effect on identification accuracy. At these rates, forced-choice recognition memory was at chance. Single presentations of the pictures outside of the RSVP sequences readily resulted in substantial priming of their identification within the sequences. We offer a neural interpretation of Potter and Levy's explanation, as well as contemporary two-stage accounts of RSVP memory and attentional phenomena, based on the recent finding (Tovee & Rolls, 1995) that most of the information in inferior temporal cells is conveyed in the first 50msec of firing but the cells continue their activity for an additional 350msec. The additional activity, by our account, is required for memory and it is this activity that may be disrupted by attention to the next image during RSVP presentations. The critical factor for priming, if not memory in general, may be attention to the stimulus for a few hundred milliseconds beyond that required for its identification. Single-trial presentations thus manifest robust memory and priming effects - even when the stimulus cannot be identified - whereas RSVP conditions in which the stimulus can be identified result in poor memory.     

The attentional window configures to object and surface boundaries

Attention can select items based on location or features. Belopolsky and colleagues posited the attentional window hypothesis, which theorized that spatial and featural selection interact such that featural selection occurs within a “window” of spatial selection. Kerzel and colleagues recently found that the attentional window can take complex shapes, but cannot configure around non-contiguous locations. The current experiments investigated whether perceptual grouping cues, which produce perceptual objects or surfaces, enable the attentional window to configure around non-contiguous locations. Using the additional singleton paradigm, we reasoned that observers (1) would be slowed by a colour singleton distractor that appears within the observers’ attentional window and (2) would be unaffected by distractors that do not appear within the attentional window. In separate blocks of trials, a target appeared upon one of two objects. Observers were cued to the relevant surface, and we asked if responses were affected by distractors on the cued task-relevant surface, and on the uncued irrelevant surface. Colour singleton distractors slowed responses when they appeared on the cued surface, even when those locations were non-contiguous locations. Distractors on the irrelevant surface did not affect responses. The results support a highly adaptable attentional window that is configurable to the surfaces and boundaries established by intermediate-level vision.     

Executive functions in decision making: An individual differences approach

This individual differences study examined the relationships between three executive functions (updating, shifting, and inhibition), measured as latent variables, and performance on two cognitively demanding subtests of the Adult Decision Making Competence battery: Applying Decision Rules and Consistency in Risk Perception. Structural equation modelling showed that executive functions contribute differentially to performance in these two tasks, with Applying Decision Rules being mainly related to inhibition and Consistency in Risk Perception mainly associated to shifting. The results suggest that the successful application of decision rules requires the capacity to selectively focus attention and inhibit irrelevant (or no more relevant) stimuli. They also suggest that consistency in risk perception depends on the ability to shift between judgement contexts.     

Language proficiency does not modulate executive control in older bilinguals

ABSTRACT

We examined if language proficiency modulates performance in tasks that measure executive control in older Telugu-English bilinguals (n = 50, mean age = 57.15 years). We administered numerical Stroop task, Attention Network Task, Dimensional Change Card Sorting task, and stop-signal task that are known to tap into different aspects of executive functioning on healthy aging Telugu-English bilinguals. Second language (English) proficiency was calculated as a cumulative score that considered both subjective and objective measures of L2 fluency and use. Bilinguals were divided into two groups based on the cumulative score and compared on each task. We did not find any effect of language proficiency on any of the executive control measures. The additional Bayesian analysis also supported these findings. Therefore, the results do not support the claim that bilingual language proficiency modulates executive control, at least in the elderly population. We discuss the results with regard to the issue of bilingual advantage in executive control and the role of age and language use.     

Free will and moral responsibility: does either require the other?

This article explores the conceptual connections between free action and action for which the agent is morally responsible. Questions addressed include the following. Can agents who are never morally responsible for anything sometimes act freely? Can agents who never act freely be morally responsible for some of their actions? Various compatibilist and incompatibilist responses to these questions are discussed, as is the control over their behavior that ordinary agents attribute to themselves.     

整合临床医学的必要性、可行性及途径——以睡眠呼吸暂停防控为例

长期以来以专科划分为主的医疗发展方式确实促进了现代医学的进步.然而,人是一个整体不应该被割裂对待.所以,这种医学发展趋势应该加以控制,否则必然会阻碍医学事业的健康发展.另外,如果只关注局部治疗想要取得突破已经越来越难.因此,整合临床医学势在必行.本文分别从阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停的病因、临床表现(包括合并症)及诊断和治疗三个方面阐述了只有全面进行医学整合才能提高阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停的整体防控水平.     

外伤性脑梗死的病因分析与防治策略

外伤性脑梗死是颅脑外伤患者比较常见且严重的一种并发症.其病因主要是脑血管壁损伤、血管受机械牵拉挤压、脑血管痉挛及低灌注、氧自由基及其他血管活性物质的改变.随着影像技术的发展进步,外伤性脑梗死的早期诊断已基本能做到,了解其主要发病机制以后,针对性地给予扩容,保证脑灌注压.通过提早预防、早期手术和内科药物、物理治疗方法,改善预后.     

医疗服务成本控制过程伦理范式的选择

不同伦理范式对医疗服务成本控制过程会产生不同的影响.运用经济伦理学及管理伦理学的原理和方法,结合医疗卫生服务机构的行业性质及特点,选择出现实可行的医疗服务成本控制过程的伦理范式.使医疗卫生服务机构在医疗服务成本控制过程中,从成本控制标准的确定、成本控制方法及途径的选择到成本控制结果的分析及考评等环节融入相关伦理内涵.使医疗服务成本控制更好地遵循恰当的伦理范式,更好地履行医疗卫生服务机构的宗旨和职责.     

Effective regulation of affect: An action control perspective on emotion regulation

The present review adopts an action control perspective on emotion regulation, contextualising the gap between emotion control goals (e.g., I want to remain calm) and emotional outcomes (e.g., anger, anxiety, and aggression) in terms of the broader literature on goal pursuit. We propose that failure to effectively regulate emotions can result from difficulties with the self-regulatory tasks of (i) identifying the need to regulate, (ii) deciding whether and how to regulate, and (iii) enacting a regulation strategy. Next we review evidence that a technique traditionally associated with regulating behavioural goals (forming implementation intentions or “if-then” planning) can help to overcome these difficulties. Meta-analysis indicated that forming implementation intentions is effective in modifying emotional outcomes, with a large effect relative to no regulation instructions (k = 21, N = 1306 d ₊ = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.61 to 1.20) and a medium-sized effect relative to goal intention instructions (k = 29, N = 1208, d ₊ = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.42 to 0.65). Our conclusion is that research on emotion regulation might benefit from an action control perspective and the interventions that this perspective offers.     

Unconscious task set priming with phonological and semantic tasks

Whether unconscious stimuli can modulate the preparation of a cognitive task is still controversial. Using a backward masking paradigm, we investigated whether the modulation could be observed even if the prime was made unconscious in 100% of the trials. In two behavioral experiments, subjects were instructed to initiate a phonological or semantic task on an upcoming word, following an explicit instruction and an unconscious prime. When the SOA between prime and instruction was sufficiently long (84 ms), primes congruent with the task set instruction led to speedier responses than incongruent primes. In the other condition (36 ms), no task set priming was observed. Repetition priming had the opposite tendency, suggesting the observed task set facilitation cannot be ascribed solely to perceptual repetition priming. Our results therefore confirm that unconscious information can modulate cognitive control for currently active task sets, providing sufficient time is available before the conscious decision.