音乐训练对执行功能的影响

尽管音乐训练影响许多认知加工,但这种广泛性影响背后的机制迄今仍不清楚。近年来,研究者认为音乐训练的迁移效应可能是通过执行功能起作用。本文将执行功能细分为抑制控制、工作记忆、认知灵活性三个核心成分,考察音乐训练对这三个成分的影响以及执行功能在音乐训练迁移效应中的中介作用。研究结果表明,音乐训练对执行功能不同成分的影响有不同特点。同时,前额叶结构与功能的变化在音乐训练影响执行功能的过程中发挥着重要作用。此外,关于执行功能在音乐训练迁移效应中的中介作用,目前研究还存在不一致的结果,未来研究应采用多种技术手段深入探讨这一问题。     

An experimental investigation of the cognitive vulnerability to depression

The present study employed an experimental design, to examine the role of metacognitive processing in the prevention of relapse to depression. Eighty remitted depressed participants were randomly allocated to receive training in the metacognitive style of rumination, distraction, acceptance or no training control prior to a negative mood induction. Rumination prolonged the intensity of the negative mood consistent with no training, whereas both distraction and acceptance reduced the intensity of the negative mood. Changes in attitudes were only found in the acceptance condition, as participants in this condition reduced negative attitudes towards negative experiences. These results are consistent with information processing theory, and imply that acceptance-based preventative interventions may operate by both reducing the intensity of sad moods and altering one's attitudes towards temporary moments of sadness.     

儿童执行功能对数学能力的预测模型

使用数点数广度任务(C-span)、Stroop任务、威斯康星卡片分类任务(WCST)测查儿童的执行功能,用《小学儿童数学能力测查量表》(一年级)、《韦克斯勒儿童智力测量》分别测查儿童的数学能力和智力,对64名小学一年级儿童的执行功能(抑制、转换、刷新)和数学能力的关系进行了研究,相关分析和回归分析发现,数学能力与执行功能任务测量都有显著相关,抑制、转换和刷新都分别对数学能力存在显著回归效应;在此基础上,建立了执行功能及其对儿童数学能力的预测模型。结果表明,抑制控制、转换和刷新都能对数学能力产生直接影响,但抑制控制还通过转换和刷新对数学能力产生间接影响。说明儿童数学能力的认知差异,主要在于抑制控制能力的差异,而抑制控制的差异又导致转换和刷新能力表现的差异。     

抑郁认知易感性的新解释——双重加工模型

双重加工模型认为人类拥有两种信息加工模式,联想模式是快速、不需努力的加工,以良好学习联想(Well-learned associations)为基础:反思模式是慢速的、需要付出努力的加工,建立在基于规则的符号推理基础上,联想模式的发生是自动化的,当预期被违反时,执行反思模式,并需要足够的认知资源.当反思加工没有校正消极的有偏向的联想加工时,就会表现出抑郁的认知易感性.双重加工模型对抑郁认知易感性的评估、病原学和治疗提出了新的看法.     

Wellness as Fairness

I argue that distinct conditions of justice lead to diverse wellness outcomes through a series of psychosocial processes. Optimal conditions of justice, suboptimal conditions of justice, vulnerable conditions of injustice, and persisting conditions of injustice lead to thriving, coping, confronting, and suffering, respectively. The processes that mediate between optimal conditions of justice and thriving include the promotion of responsive conditions, the prevention of threats, individual pursuit, and avoidance of comparisons. The mechanisms that mediate between suboptimal conditions of justice and coping include resilience, adaptation, compensation, and downward comparisons. Critical experiences, critical consciousness, critical action, and righteous comparisons mediate between vulnerable conditions of injustice and confrontation with the system. Oppression, internalization, helplessness, and upward comparisons mediate between persisting conditions of injustice and suffering. These psychosocial processes operate within and across personal, interpersonal, organizational and community contexts. Different types of justice are hypothesized to influence well-being within each context. Intrapersonal injustice operates at the personal level, whereas distributive, procedural, relational, and developmental justice impact interpersonal well-being. At the organizational level, distributive, procedural, relational and informational justice influence well-being. Finally, at the community level, distributive, procedural, retributive, and cultural justice support community wellness. Data from a variety of sources support the suggested connections between justice and well-being.     

Temperament and negative semantic priming in children 7 to 12 years old

The present research assessed whether children with high and low scores on temperament traits differed in their ability to inhibit irrelevant task information in a lexical decision task. Children from 7 to 12 years old were classified based on temperament dimensions measured using a version of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire. The participants were instructed to either attend to (and remember) or to ignore a masked prime word followed by a central probe target on which they made a lexical decision. The results revealed several notable outcomes. First of all, recognition memory was better for attended than ignored words, providing further evidence that attention instructions influenced the processing of the primes.

Secondly, although no negative priming effect was obtained in the “ignore” condition, 43% of children showed this effect. Thirdly, children scoring high on Inhibitory Control and Impulsivity showed ignored negative priming, whereas children scoring high on Inhibitory Control and low on Impulsivity ignored facilitation. Data are discussed within the framework of negative priming as a complex phenomenon that involves the interaction of different factors such as age, type of task, and certain temperament traits.     

Theoretical and methodological directions in mindset intervention research

Growth mindset interventions directed at students aim to change students' beliefs about the malleability of ability. These interventions have had mixed results, with some showing impressive findings (e.g., improving grades and persistence in science and closing performance gaps), while other implementations have shown null findings. This heterogeneity suggests that growth mindset interventions should not be viewed as a sole solution for improving educational outcomes for students and that further research is needed to identify the contextual factors that influence their effectiveness. We propose new theoretical directions in mindset research that adopts an anti-deficit model and moves away from focusing exclusively on students and their belief systems. Instead, we encourage a new wave of mindset research that considers the institutional, cultural, and contextual environment that either corroborates or negates students' mindset beliefs. We propose a new approach to mindset research that emphasizes innovative approaches to better understand the conditions under which mindset interventions are effective.     

The relationship between working memory capacity and cortical activity during performance of a novel motor task

ObjectivesThis study assessed whether individual differences in working memory capacity influenced verbal-analytical processes when performing a novel motor skill.DesignParticipants performed a tennis-hitting task in two conditions: no pressure and high-pressure.MethodsEighteen young adults participated in the study. EEG coherence between the T3-F3 and T4-F4 regions in the Beta1 and Alpha2 frequencies was recorded during performance in each condition. Verbal and visuo-spatial working memory capacity were assessed using the Automated Working Memory Assessment.ResultsNo differences were found between the two conditions for hitting performance and EEG activity. However, across both conditions, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory were significant predictors of EEG coherence between the T3-F3 and T4-F4 regions in the Beta1 and Alpha2 frequencies. Larger verbal working memory capacity was associated with greater coherence while the opposite trend was observed for visuo-spatial working memory capacity.ConclusionsThese results indicate that larger verbal working memory capacity is associated with a greater tendency to use explicit processes during motor performance, whereas larger visuo-spatial working memory capacity is associated more with implicit processes. The findings are discussed with relevance to the theory of implicit motor learning.     

P3b反映基于相似性的图形类别归纳决策过程(309)

先前关于归纳推理的研究没有探讨过图形类别归纳任务中决策过程的事件相关电位(ERPs)特征。该研究采用图形材料,通过记录和分析图形类别归纳推理任务的结论评估阶段的脑电信号,探讨了不同类别条件下图形归纳推理决策过程的ERP特征。实验结果显示,推理决策过程中,当前提为一些狗具有某种属性特征时,结论一致类别(狗类及马类)比结论不一致类别下(椅子类)的归纳推理诱发了更大的P3b的波幅; 而结论一致类别下,类别内(狗类)比类别外(马类)推理诱发更大的后部脑区的P3b的波幅,反映了相似性对类别归纳的贡献。该研究为理解类别归纳过程的决策阶段的动态加工过程提供了神经电生理学证据。研究结果进一步支持了类别归纳的相似性理论模型。     

小学生近似数量系统敏锐度的发展趋势及其与数学能力的关系：抑制控制的中介作用

采用测量法和问卷法考察了172名小学生近似数量系统敏锐度的发展,以及抑制控制在近似数量系统敏锐度与数学能力关系中的中介效应。结果表明：(1)随着年龄增长,小学生的近似数量系统敏锐度逐渐提高;(2)近似数量系统敏锐度(负相关序列中的韦伯系数)和抑制控制均能显著正向预测小学生的数学能力;(3)抑制控制在小学生近似数量系统敏锐度(负相关序列中的韦伯系数)与数学能力的关系中起部分中介作用。