An fMRI study of phonological and spatial working memory using identical stimuli

The aim of the present fMRI study was to localize brain areas that were uniquely activated for phonological versus spatial working memory. Previous studies have reported inconsistent results, most likely because of methodological heterogeneity varying both stimuli and instructions in the same study. Here, identical consonant-vowel-consonant non-words were visually presented to the subjects in a 2-back paradigm under two different instructions; the subjects either had to memorize the non-words per se or their location. The results give evidence for a hemispheric organization of working memory, with dominance for processing of phonological information in the left hemisphere and frontal cortex, and spatial information in the right hemisphere and parietal cortex. The results also reflect a certain overlap between the neuronal network for working memory and processing of verbal and spatial material. These findings are discussed with regard to processing specificity and the extent that activated areas also may reflect perceptual processes.     

整体/局部加工中的半球功能不对称效应

20世纪末的研究证据显示,对Navon等级刺激的整体/局部加工中半球功能不对称效应发生在早期还是晚期阶段,研究者存在着争论。近期的电生理和功能成像研究资料表明,整体/局部加工的半球不对称效应可能是一个受到多种因素调节的复杂动态系统;早期信息表征的半球功能不对称效应可能主要受知觉因素的影响,而注意控制和反应冲突可能主要调节晚期知觉加工的半球功能不对称     

Individual and Couple Patterns of Self-views and their Implications for Working with Premarital Couple Relationship Dissatisfaction

A sample of 520 Australian heterosexual couples participating in the PREPARE premarital program completed the multidimensional PREPARE relationship assessment inventory (Olson D. H. Prepare-Enrich Counsellor’s Manual. Brisbane, Australia: Prepare-Enrich, 1996) providing measures of couple relationship satisfaction and individual levels of self-confidence, assertiveness, avoidance, and partner dominance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for idealistic distortion and couple relationship status, high individual male and female self-confidence and assertiveness, and low individual male and female avoidance and partner dominance, were all significant independent predictors of couple satisfaction. Couples in which both partners were high on self-confidence were significantly more satisfied than couples in which one or both of the partners were low on self-confidence. A similar result was evident for couple patterns involving mutually high assertiveness, low avoidance or low partner dominance, relative to couple patterns in which one or both partners were unassertive, highly avoidant or high in partner dominance. These aspects of self-view point to a salient evidence-based intrapersonal and interpersonal context in which to conduct couple therapy.     

The intergenerational transmission of social dominance: A three‐generation study

This study examined the transmission of social dominance orientation (SDO) from parents and grandparents to children. It was predicted that parents as well as grandparents would pass their social dominance attitudes to children. Children's levels of SDO would thus be the highest when parental and grandparental attitudes are high; the lowest when parental and grandparental attitudes are low; and intermediate when parental and grandparental attitudes are incongruent. These hypotheses were examined in a sample of 93 families including children (in early adulthood), one of their parents, and one of their grandparents. Results yielded support for the predictions. These findings' implications are discussed in terms of their potential to explain previous inconsistent results on the transmission of social attitudes to children. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relation between scores on the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire and aggressive acts,impulsiveness, competitiveness,dominance, and sexual jealousy

This paper examines the relation of the four subscales (physical, verbal, anger and hostility) of the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) to act‐based aggression questionnaires (involving same‐sex or partners as opponents, and direct or indirect aggression) and evolutionarily based predictors of aggression, using an online student sample. All aggression measures were moderately correlated with one another. The BPAQ physical and verbal scales were most closely related to act‐based measures of direct aggression to a same‐sex other and the hostility scale to indirect aggression to a same‐sex other. The evolutionary variables were less closely related to the BPAQ than were the act‐based measures. Dominance and sexual jealousy were predictors of BPAQ physical, verbal and anger, and impulsiveness was a significant predictor of anger. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–10, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Support for exclusionism as an independent dimension of social dominance orientation in mainland China

Three studies using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided consistent evidence for a three-factor model of the social dominance orientation (SDO) in Mainland China. Support for exclusionism, which was not found in previous research, emerged as an independent SDO factor (Studies 1, 2, and 3). In Study 2, this factor predicted SDO difference between a high status group (managers) and a low status group (entry-level employees). In Study 3, this factor correlated positively with authoritarianism and negatively with altruism. These results provided evidence for the validity of this new SDO factor. The findings are discussed in terms of their relations to China's cultural tradition and contemporary economic development.     

Asymmetric dominance and phantom decoy effects in games

In individual choices between alternatives x and y, the availability of a third alternative z, judged inferior to x but not to y, tends to increase preferences for x. Two experiments investigated corresponding strategic asymmetric dominance effects in games. In Experiment 1, 72 players chose strategies in six symmetric 3 × 3 games, each having one strategy dominating just one other, or in reduced 2 × 2 games constructed by deleting the dominated strategies. Asymmetrically dominated strategies, even when unavailable (phantom decoy), increased choices of the strategies that dominated them and bolstered decision confidence. In Experiment 2, 81 participants played 12 similar but asymmetric games with or without dominated strategies, and similar asymmetric dominance, phantom decoy, and confidence effects were found.     

Distortion of probability and outcome information in risky decisions

Substantial evidence indicates that information is distorted during decision making, but very few studies have assessed the distortion of probability and outcome information in risky decisions. In two studies involving six binary decisions (e.g., banning blood donations from people who have visited England, because of “mad cow disease”), student and nonstudent participants distorted their evaluations of probability and outcome information in the direction of their preferred decision alternative and used these biased evaluations to update their preferences. Participants also evaluated the utilities of possible outcomes more positively when the outcomes could follow only from the preferred alternative and more negatively when they could follow only from the competing alternative. Such circular reasoning is antithetical to the normative consequentialist principles underlying decision analysis. Presenting numerical information as precise values or as ranges of values did not significantly affect information distortion, apparently because the manipulation did not affect perceived ambiguity as intended.     

Better safe than sorry: Precautionary reasoning and implied dominance in risky decisions

In four studies, student and nonstudent participants evaluated the possible outcomes of binary decisions involving health, safety, and environmental risks (e.g., whether to issue a dam‐failure evacuation order). Many participants indicated that false positives (e.g., evacuation, but no dam failure) were better than true negatives (e.g., no evacuation and no dam failure), thereby implying that the more protective action dominated the less protective action. A common rationale for this response pattern was the precautionary maxim “better safe than sorry.” Participants apparently evaluated outcomes partly on the basis of the decisions that might lead to them, in conflict with consequentialist decision models. Consistent with this explanation, the prevalence of implied dominance decreased substantially when the emphasis on decisions was reduced. These results demonstrate that an initial preference for a decision alternative can alter the evaluation of possible consequences of both the preferred alternative and a competing alternative, suggesting positive feedback loops that reinforce the initial preference. The rationality of considering the decision itself as an attribute of possible outcomes is discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.