Does a Positive Bias Relate to Social Behavior in Children With ADHD?

This study examines whether positively biased self-perceptions relate to social behaviors in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as compared to control children. The social behaviors of children with ADHD (n = 87) were examined relative to control children (CTL; n = 38) during a laboratory-based dyadic social interaction task. Children with ADHD were subgrouped into those with a positive illusory bias (PIB) in their self-perceptions (ADHD + PIB) versus those without such a bias (ADHD – PIB). Using a behavioral coding system adapted for this study, ADHD + PIB, ADHD – PIB, and CTL participants were compared on objectively coded social behaviors occurring within the context of the social interaction task. Whereas both ADHD groups displayed more disruptive behavior than controls, only the ADHD + PIB group displayed less prosocial behavior and less effortful behavior. This study breaks new ground by examining positively biased self-perceptions as they relate to social behavior in children with ADHD and provides promising new insight into the social problems experienced by these children.     

Preattentive Perception of Multiple Illusory Line-Motion: A Formal Model of Parallel Independent-Detection in Visual Search

The phenomenon referred to as illusory line-motion (ILM; O. Hikosaka, S. Miyauchi, & S. Shimojo, 1993a) has been described as a measure of the local facilitation of attention gradient. However, J. Kawahara, K. Yokosawa, S. Nishida, and T. Sato (1996) have demonstrated a spatially parallel search for an “odd man out” in the ILM direction. Apart from showing preattentive ILM perception in terms of an analogy between line-motion and apparent motion, the authors examined whether ILM perception is possible without attention from another point of view. Four experiments revealed that the ILM target can be detected in parallel without invoking attentional facilitation and invalidated the possible contribution of attentional set in parallel ILM search. Participants were able to correctly detect the ILM target among multiple nontargets, even when the line orientation was changed from trial to trial. The authors' independent-detection model predicted ILM search performance well on several occasions. These findings strongly support a preattentive and stimulus-driven explanation of ILM perception.     

视觉特征捆绑：基于时间同步还是基于相同空间位置？

通过操纵客体呈现的空间位置和时间顺序,来考察视觉特征捆绑是基于相同空间位置线索还是基于时间邻近线索。在两个实验中,给被试在固定的注视点位置（固定呈现条件）或在注视点上/下位置（变换呈现条件）快速地系列呈现刺激,记录靶子前后各两个时间位置（-2、-1、+1、+2）的错觉性结合（IC）率。结果发现,在固定呈现条件下,IC更多地出现在-1和+1的时间位置上;而在变换呈现条件下,错觉性结合更多地出现在-2和+2时间位置上。为了进一步排除特定实验范式的影响,在实验3中,我们采用特征分离范式,使被分离的刺激特征同时呈现在相同（相同位置同步）或不同（不同位置同步）的空间位置上。结果表明,这两种条件下的IC率无显著差异,这说明错觉性结合不受时间同步模式的影响。综上所述,来自三个实验的结果表明,时间范围内的特征捆绑机制是按空间位置,而不是按时间邻近,线索进行的：若特征的空间位置相同,时间邻近的特征才被捆绑起来;若空间位置不同,即使时间邻近的特征也不能被捆绑到一起。     

Some thoughts on the diffusion of psychoanalysis: the group dimension, ethics and the sense of identity

In this paper the author questions some of the ways in which psychoanalysis is passed on to the wider public, one of which is sometimes evocative of the sales promotion of a consumer product in contemporary society. This methodology does not give sufficiently deep prior thought to the eventual consequences of side effects. The detailed exposition of clinical cases, for example, raises sensitive ethical issues, even when anonymity is preserved. Although it is true that making information about Freud's theories more widely available may indeed encourage people to think about training as psychoanalysts, it is noticeable that this process is sometimes considered to be a form of training in itself. Some participants feel that acquiring a psychoanalytical vocabulary and reading clinical reports form a sufficient basis for practising thereafter as psychotherapists, both in institutional contexts and in private practice. The absence of group work on the part of the organizers might explain why closer study is not made of the methodologies of transmission and the different levels that it involves. This is sometimes due to the absence of a common object, formed within and by the group, and to the emergence of manic defences in the group.     

Sound enhances detection of visual target during infancy: a study using illusory contours

In adults, a salient tone embedded in a sequence of nonsalient tones improves detection of a synchronously and briefly presented visual target in a rapid, visually distracting sequence. This phenomenon indicates that perception from one sensory modality can be influenced by another one even when the latter modality provides no information about the judged property itself. However, no study has revealed the age-related development of this kind of cross-modal enhancement. Here we tested the effect of concurrent and unique sounds on detection of illusory contours during infancy. We used a preferential looking technique to investigate whether audio-visual enhancement of the detection of illusory contours could be observed at 5, 6, and 7 months of age. A significant enhancement, induced by sound, of the preference for illusory contours was observed only in the 7-month-olds. These results suggest that audio-visual enhancement in visual target detection emerges at 7 months of age.     

Visual evoked potentials elicited by subjective contour figures

In order to investigate the relationship between the appearance of illusory figures and the wave form of visual evoked potentials (VEPs), 8 different visual pattern stimuli were presented to 8 normal subjects. Four of the stimuli (experimental stimuli) produced subjective figures and contours (squares and discs). The 4 other stimuli (reference stimuli), although equal to the experimental stimuli in the amount of physical energy, did not produce the illusion of squares or discs. Electrodes were placed on the scalp at central and occipital locations. Three prominent peaks in the occipital record were observed in all subjects. An amplitude difference of VEP N180 (N2) between the subjective figures and the reference stimuli was found in the values for each subject. Enhancement of the VEP of the illusory figure stimuli was observed for a specific component (N2), whereas the amplitude values at the central components and the occipital P120 (P2) and P280 (P3) were almost the same as the reference values. The VEP (N2 component) amplitude enhancement at the occipital area for subjective figure stimuli suggests that illusory contour formation takes place at higher levels in the visual system. This was known from experiments using dichoptic presentation.     

Risk perception,illusory superiority and personal responsibility during COVID-19: An experimental study of attitudes to staying home

Little is known about how different government communication strategies may systematically affect people’s attitudes to staying home or going out during the COVID-19 pandemic, nor how people perceive and process the risk of viral transmission in different scenarios. In this study, we report results from two experiments that examine the degree to which people’s attitudes regarding the permissibility of leaving one’s home are (1) sensitive to different levels of risk of viral transmission in specific scenarios, (2) sensitive to communication framings that are either imperative or that emphasize personal responsibility, or (3) creating ‘loopholes’ for themselves, enabling a more permissive approach to their own compliance. We find that the level of risk influences attitudes to going out, and that participants report less permissive attitudes to going out when prompted with messages framed in imperative terms, rather than messages emphasizing personal responsibility; for self-loopholes, we find no evidence that participants’ attitudes towards going out in specific scenarios are more permissive for themselves than for others. However, participants report they are more rigorous in staying home than others, which may cause moral licensing. Additionally, we find that age is negatively associated with permissive attitudes, and that male participants are more permissive to going out. Thus, during phases where it is important to promote staying home for all scenarios, including those perceived to be low-risk, imperative communication may be best suited to increase compliance.     

顶叶在特征捆绑中的作用--对一例典型双侧顶叶损伤病人的研究

本实验以一例典型双侧顶叶损伤患者为研究对象,以数字和几何形状为材料,采用形状和颜色特征识别任务,主要考察了顶叶及空间信息是否影响视觉特征捆绑。结果显示,患者在特征捆绑任务上操作成绩较差,错觉性结合错误远远多于特征错误,且正确反应及错觉性结合受刺激间的距离及呈现方式的影响,表现出距离和位置效应。这些结果表明,顶叶在视觉特征捆绑中起重要作用,这种影响作用很可能与空间注意有关。本研究进一步为特征整合理论提供了神经心理学的证据。     

内隐人格理论对他人印象加工策略的影响

从表征状态与他人知觉信息加工方式两个角度探讨了内隐人格理论对他人印象加工策略的影响。首先采用自编的童话情境测验对120名被试的内隐人格理论进行维度分析, 甄选出持不同内隐人格理论的被试(实体论42人、渐变论48人)。随后使用错觉关联效应的实验范式, 要求两类被试(持不同内隐人格理论及其指向性情境)对他人行为信息进行判断, 记录自由回忆和频率估计的差异值。结果发现：持不同内隐人格理论的个体在知觉他人时采用不同的信息加工方式。实体论者通常采用启发式加工, 渐变论者通常采用分析式加工。实体论者在进行启发式加工时, 通过对他人行为信息的即时性判断形成他人印象; 渐变论者在进行分析式加工时, 对他人行为信息进行记忆性判断, 最终依赖情境信息形成他人印象。