A Forward Bias in Human Profile-Oriented Portraits

The spatial composition of human portraits obeys historically changing cultural norms. We show that it is also affected by cognitive factors that cause greater spontaneous attention to what is in front rather in the back of an agent. Scenes with more space in front of a directed object are both more often produced and judged as more aesthetically pleasant. This leads to the prediction that, in profile-oriented human portraits, compositions with more space in front of depicted agents (a “forward bias”) should be over-represented. By analyzing a large dataset (total N of 1,831 paintings by 582 unique identified European painters from the 15th to the 20th century), we found evidence of this forward bias: Painters tended to put more free space in front of, rather than behind, the sitters. Additionally, we found evidence that this forward bias became stronger when cultural norms of spatial composition favoring centering became less stringent.     

Brain states matter. A reply to the unfolding argument

Recently, it has been claimed that Integrated Information Theory and other theories of its type cannot explain consciousness (“unfolding argument”). We unravel this argument mathematically and prove that the premises of the argument imply a much stronger result according to which the observed problem holds for almost all theories of consciousness. We find, however, that one of the premises is unwarranted and show that if this premise is dropped, the argument ceases to work. Thus our results show that the claim of the unfolding argument cannot be considered valid. The premise in question is that measures of brain activity cannot be used in an empirical test of theories of consciousness.     

“To g or not to g?” — Analysis of the dimensional structure of a cognitive abilities’ battery

Over the past century there has been an extensive debate in Psychology over whether intelligence structure is best represented through a single general ability, multiple specific abilities, or a hierarchical structure of abilities. This study aims at contributing to this debate through an analysis of the dimensional structure of a cognitive abilities’ battery aiming to evaluate, in combination, differentiated cognitive processes of increasing complexity (comprehension, reasoning, and problem solving) through items of different contents (verbal, numerical, and spatial). A Portuguese representative sample of 2546 adolescents enrolled in secondary education participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analyses were carried out and the results showed that: (1) the hierarchical model is the only presenting an acceptable fit to the data (RMSEA = .07; CFI = .96; TLI = .92), (2) the existence of specific factors cannot be neglected, and (3) contents of the subtests assume relevance to explain the levels of adolescents’ cognitive performance. These results are discussed taking into account the contribution of school experience for the development and differentiation of adolescents’ cognitive abilities.     

空间邻近对7～9岁儿童图文阅读的影响：来自眼动的证据

教育心理学中的空间邻近效应已经在成人群体中被验证,但是很少有研究探讨图文的邻近能否促进儿童图文阅读。本研究操纵图画故事书中图文空间位置（邻近、远离）,使用Tobii T120眼动仪记录儿童的注意加工过程,考察空间邻近对7～9岁学龄初期儿童图文阅读的影响。结果发现,相比图文远离呈现,图文邻近呈现时儿童对文字区的注视时间更久,图文注视点转换次数更多,且细节回忆测验成绩更高;但是在主题理解测验中差异不显著,图文位置与年龄的交互作用均不显著。本研究结论为：儿童的多媒体信息加工也存在空间邻近效应,图文空间邻近能促进儿童的图文注意分配与整合,有助于儿童对故事细节的识记,但不能促进对故事的理解。     

文本信息加工中的知识结构的测量

知识结构是信息加工中各类信息在记忆系统中的组织结构的反映。为更好地表征和分析知识结构,研究者从教育科学技术和计算机技术的角度发展出一系列的研究方法和测量工具,包括潜在语义分析、心理模型分析和语义聚合分析。研究者可以结合具体情况选用合适的测量工具。而如何实现眼动、功能性成像数据与当前的测量相结合,则需要研究者在未来的工作中展开进一步探讨。     

时间结构和速度线索对碰撞时间估计的影响

估计被遮挡的运动物体何时到达某一特定位置被称为碰撞时间估计,本研究利用遮挡范式,通过控制时间结构、物理速度及运动过程是否可见设计两个2（物理速度）×3（时间结构）实验来探究三者对碰撞时间估计的影响。结果：当时间结构一致时,不论物理速度快慢及是否存在视觉速度线索,被试的绩效都没有显著差异;当时间结构不一致时,不论物理速度快慢,存在视觉速度条件下被试的绝对偏差小于无视觉速度条件。结论：时间结构一致时,被试主要使用时间线索进行碰撞时间估计;时间结构不一致时,被试通过整合时间结构和视觉速度线索进行估计。     

藏语阅读中中央凹词频效应及对副中央凹预视效应的影响

在不同语言文字系统中,对于眼动控制的本质及其发生机制,尤其是阅读过程中注意资源的分配是序列分布还是平行分布的问题,目前仍然存在着争论和分歧。藏语是拼音文字,但它同时又具有汉语的特点,独具语言特色。因此,通过对藏语阅读过程中中央凹词频对副中央凹预视效应影响这一问题的探讨,可以在一种已有研究未曾涉及的文字系统中进一步推动上述争议的解决。本研究采用眼动记录法,设计了两个实验。实验1操纵了中央凹词频(高频、低频),考察藏语阅读中中央凹词的词频效应及词频延迟效应,结果发现,藏语阅读中存在词频效应及词频延迟效应。实验2同时操纵中央凹词频和副中央凹预视词类型,借助边界范式,考察藏语阅读中副中央凹预视效应及中央凹词频对副中央凹预视效应的影响,结果发现,藏语阅读中存在副中央凹预视效应,且与低频中央凹词相比,高频中央凹词对副中央凹预视效应的促进作用更大。两个实验结果表明:(1)藏语阅读中存在显著的词频效应,且表现在词汇加工的整个过程;(2)藏语阅读中存在显著的词频延迟效应,并贯穿于词汇加工的整个过程;(3)藏语阅读中存在显著的副中央凹预视效应,读者能通过副中央凹预视提取到语音和字形信息。藏语阅读中中央凹词...     

面孔知觉中特征、结构和整体加工策略的眼动研究

考察面孔知觉中特征加工、结构加工和整体加工三种不同加工方式对应的眼动模式。实验1中, 将以特征信息为主的错乱面孔和以结构信息为主的模糊面孔作为线索刺激, 引发对测试面孔的特征加工和结构加工, 眼动分析表明：特征加工表现为对面孔各特征内更长的凝视时间, 结构加工表现为对面孔各特征间高频的眼跳。实验2采用相同的研究范式, 将完整面孔、轻度错乱面孔和低水平模糊面孔作为线索刺激, 引发对测试面孔除特征加工和结构加工外的另一种加工方式-- 整体加工, 表现为注视点更多地落在测试面孔中央区的鼻子部位以扩大注视范围, 进而把握整张面孔信息。本研究揭示了三种不同面孔加工方式眼动模式的差异。     

21世纪医学教育的知识结构初探

在知识爆炸的今天,个人全面系统掌握医学基础知识只能是一个幻想,新世纪要求有关教育知识结构的变革。继续延用经典医学学科多平层型知识结构进行21世纪医学教育已不适应,可满足需求的应是以可持续发展的新知识为核心的核心－壳层型新知识结构。目前似应以细胞知识为核心重组医学教育知识结构体系,按应用基础、临床等知识壳层对冗杂的经典学科知识进行精炼与重组。     

Testosterone-to-oestradiol ratio is associated with female facial attractiveness

The relationship between facial shape and attractiveness has been extensively studied, yet few studies have investigated the underlying biological factors of an attractive face. Many researchers have proposed a link between female attractiveness and sex hormones, but there is little empirical evidence in support of this assumption. In the present study we investigated the relationship between circulating sex hormones and attractiveness. We created prototypes by separately averaging photographs of 15 women with high and low levels of testosterone, oestradiol, and testosterone-to-oestradiol ratio levels, respectively. An independent set of facial images was then shape transformed toward these prototypes. We paired the resulting images in such a way that one face depicted a female with high hormone level and the other one with a low hormone level. Fifty participants were asked to choose the more attractive face of each pair. We found that low testosterone-to-oestradiol ratio and low testosterone were positively associated with female facial attractiveness. There was no preference for faces with high oestradiol levels. In an additional experiment with 36 participants we confirmed that a low testosterone-to-oestradiol ratio plays a larger role than low testosterone alone. These results provide empirical evidence that an attractive female face is shaped by interacting effects of testosterone and oestradiol.