小学儿童执行功能与问题解决能力的关系

本研究选取小学二、四、六年级儿童为被试,采用计算机操作的方式,考察小学生执行功能中抑制、工作记忆和认知灵活性与4类伦敦塔问题解决表现之间的关系。结果表明在问题解决的计划方面,抑制能力较高的被试体现出良好的适应性解决能力,而工作记忆高的被试更能有效的利用资源;根据问题解决路径的不同划分了三大伦敦塔问题解决表现类型,工作记忆和抑制在问题解决中均起到重要作用。     

婚姻冲突与儿童问题行为关系研究的理论进展

大量研究指出婚姻冲突与儿童问题行为紧密相关,但在二者关系的解释上有不同观点。其中代表性的理论有社会学习理论、间接作用观点、认知-背景理论和情绪安全假设等。文中详细介绍了4个理论的基本观点并分析了其优缺点。综合这些理论,作者在理解婚姻冲突和儿童问题行为时应该坚持如下3个观点:第一,系统和生态的观点;第二,主客体相互作用的观点;第三,情感和认知并重的观点。     

渐减提示法呈现样例对学习迁移的作用

本研究探讨了从样例学习到问题解决过渡的样例设计方式。实验结果表明：渐减提示法是动态的联结样例和问题解决的有效形式,符合认知技能获得的四阶段模型和建构主义学习观的基本要求;渐减提示法可以促进学习者对样例问题进行高质量的自我解释和产生心理预期,是实现从样例学习到问题解决过渡的有效方法。     

从困境到超越：顿悟的脑机制研究

在1913~1920年间,德国心理学家苛勒进行了有关顿悟的经典实验。苛勒发现挑战了当时占主导地位的“尝试-错误”学习理论,表明问题解决行为可以以一种突发的形式产生,并在一瞬间获得对于问题情境的全新的思考和把握。但是直到最近心理学家才开始逐渐认识顿悟的大脑机制。该文介绍了近期围绕顿悟过程开展的脑成像研究,介绍了有关的研究方法,并讨论了参与顿悟过程的各个关键脑区的功能     

科学发明情境中问题提出的fMRI研究*

本研究中,以76个科学发明问题(36个带有相关的原型,40个不带有相关的原型)为实验材料,使用功能性磁共振成像(fMRI)技术探讨了科学发明情境中的问题提出以及新近获得的语义对有价值的科学问题提出的启发效应的大脑机制。对有原型提出有价值的科学问题与无原型提出一般问题这两种情况下被试反应的数据进行记录和分析。结果表明两种情况下共同激活的脑区(科学发明情境中问题提出的脑区)为左侧梭状回、左侧内侧额叶、左侧豆状核、右小脑和左侧中央前回。这些共同激活的脑区表明：左侧梭状回也许与各个语句的语义表征有关;左侧内侧额叶也许与所有语句的整体语义表征以及提出各个语义之间的―问题‖有关(左侧豆状核和右小脑配合内侧额叶分别负责控制注意、眼动的指向和注意资源的分配);左侧中央前回可能负责用语句表述出所提出的语义之间的―问题‖。对有原型提出有价值的科学问题和无原型提出有价值的科学问题这两种情况下被试反应的数据进行记录和分析。结果表明有原型提出有价值的科学问题比无原型提出有价值的科学问题显著激活的脑区(科学发明情境中新近获得的语义对有价值的科学问题提出的启发效应的脑区)为左侧楔前叶、左侧额下回、左侧颞中回。这些显著激活的脑区表明：楔前叶与情境记忆的贮存和提取有关;额中回与认知控制和注意资源的分配有关;颞中回与新异性原型的成功激活有关。     

Multi-objective combinatorial optimization problems: A survey

In the last 20 years many multi-objective linear programming (MOLP) methods with continuous variables have been developed. However, in many real-world applications discrete variables must be introduced. It is well known that MOLP problems with discrete variables can have special difficulties and so cannot be solved by simply combining discrete programming methods and multi-objective programming methods. The present paper is intended to review the existing literature on multi-objective combinatorial optimization (MOCO) problems. Various classical combinatorial problems are examined in a multi-criteria framework. Some conclusions are drawn and directions for future research are suggested.     

Compatibilism,Evil, and the Free-Will Defense

It is widely believed that (1) if theological determinism were true, in virtue of God’s role in determining created agents to perform evil actions, created agents would be neither free nor morally responsible for their evil actions and God would not be perfectly good; (2) if metaphysical compatibilism were true, the free-will defense against the deductive problem of evil would fail; and (3) on the assumption of metaphysical compatibilism, God could have actualized just any one of those myriad possible worlds that are populated only by compatibilist free creatures. The primary thesis of this essay is that none of these propositions is true. This thesis is defended by appealing to a recently proposed novel, acausal, composite, unified theory of free action – the Theory of Middle Freedom – that evades the central problems plaguing traditional theories of metaphysical compatibilism.

Methodological issues in measures of imitative reaction times

Ideomotor (IM) theory suggests that observing someone else perform an action activates an internal motor representation of that behaviour within the observer. Evidence supporting the case for an ideomotor theory of imitation has come from studies that show imitative responses to be faster than the same behavioural measures performed in response to spatial cues. In an attempt to replicate these findings, we manipulated the salience of the visual cue and found that we could reverse the advantage of the imitative cue over the spatial cue. We suggest that participants utilised a simple visuomotor mechanism to perform all aspects of this task, with performance being driven by the relative visual salience of the stimuli. Imitation is a more complex motor skill that would constitute an inefficient strategy for rapid performance.     

A multi-year evaluation of the effects of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model on identification of children for special education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementation of a systematic response to intervention (RTI) model on the identification and evaluation of children for special education. Using a multiple baseline design, a systematic model of assessment and intervention was introduced in consecutive years for all elementary schools (N = 5) in the district. Effect of the RTI model on number of evaluations conducted, percentage of evaluated children who qualified for services, and proportion of identified children by sex and ethnicity before and after implementation of the model was examined. Additionally, outcomes for children who did not have an adequate response to intervention versus those who were at-risk but responded successfully to short-term intervention were examined. A cost analysis of use of the model was provided. The degree to which data obtained were used by the decision-making team was also examined. The assessment and intervention procedures, decision rules, and schoolwide training methods are described in detail and practical implications are discussed.     

"What if…": The Use of Conceptual Simulations in Scientific Reasoning

The term conceptual simulation refers to a type of everyday reasoning strategy commonly called "what if" reasoning. It has been suggested in a number of contexts that this type of reasoning plays an important role in scientific discovery; however, little direct evidence exists to support this claim. This article proposes that conceptual simulation is likely to be used in situations of informational uncertainty, and may be used to help scientists resolve that uncertainty. We conducted two studies to investigate the relationship between conceptual simulation and informational uncertainty. Study 1 was an in vivo study of expert scientists; the results suggest that scientists do use conceptual simulation in situations of informational uncertainty, and that they use conceptual simulation to make inferences from their data using the analogical reasoning process of alignment by similarity detection. Study 2 experimentally manipulated experts' level of uncertainty and provides further support for the hypothesis that conceptual simulation is more likely to be used in situations of informational uncertainty. Finally, we discuss the relationship between conceptual simulation and other types of reasoning using qualitative mental models.