Sustained attention in language production: An individual differences investigation

Whereas it has long been assumed that most linguistic processes underlying language production happen automatically, accumulating evidence suggests that these processes do require some form of attention. Here we investigated the contribution of sustained attention: the ability to maintain alertness over time. In Experiment 1, participants’ sustained attention ability was measured using auditory and visual continuous performance tasks. Subsequently, employing a dual-task procedure, participants described pictures using simple noun phrases and performed an arrow-discrimination task while their vocal and manual response times (RTs) and the durations of their gazes to the pictures were measured. Earlier research has demonstrated that gaze duration reflects language planning processes up to and including phonological encoding. The speakers’ sustained attention ability correlated with the magnitude of the tail of the vocal RT distribution, reflecting the proportion of very slow responses, but not with individual differences in gaze duration. This suggests that sustained attention was most important after phonological encoding. Experiment 2 showed that the involvement of sustained attention was significantly stronger in a dual-task situation (picture naming and arrow discrimination) than in simple naming. Thus, individual differences in maintaining attention on the production processes become especially apparent when a simultaneous second task also requires attentional resources.     

Breaking Surface Feature Continuity of Previewed Mask Reinstates Object Substitution Masking12

Perception of a briefly presented target is impaired when a sparse surrounding mask (e.g., four-dot) persists after target offset compared to when the target and mask offset together (i.e., object substitution masking [OSM]). Previous studies have reported a mask preview effect in which OSM is largely attenuated by prior presentation of the mask. Here, we investigated how breaking object continuity of the previewed mask affects the mask preview effect. Introducing an abrupt surface color change of the previewed mask at target onset disrupted the beneficial effect of mask preview, that is, OSM was reinstated (Experiment 1). The masking induced by mask color change exhibited the same two characteristics as conventional OSM: target location specificity and non-necessity of voluntary attention to the mask (Experiment 2). These results suggest that a sudden change in surface color breaks object continuity of the previewed mask and causes the mask to be represented as a new one, which triggers OSM anew.     

Labels and object categorization in six- and nine-month-olds: tracking labels across varying carrier phrases

Language shapes object categorization in infants. This starts as a general enhanced attentional effect of language, which narrows to a specific link between labels and categories by twelve months. The current experiments examined this narrowing effect by investigating when infants track a consistent label across varied input. Six-month-old infants (N = 48) were familiarized to category exemplars, each presented with the exact same labeling phrase or the same label in different phrases. Evidence of object categorization at test was only found with the same phrase, suggesting that infants were not tracking the label’s consistency, but rather that of the entire input. Nine-month-olds (N = 24) did show evidence of categorization across the varied phrases, suggesting that they were tracking the consistent label across the varied input.     

Transitional object use,attachment, and help‐seeking behaviour in Taiwanese adolescents

Transitional object use is psychologically beneficial for young children, but research has suggested that maintaining transitional object use into middle childhood may be associated with negative behaviour. Little is known about the continuation of transitional object use into adolescence, and few studies have been conducted with non‐Western populations. To examine differences in attachment and attitudes to help seeking in adolescents who did and did not use a transitional object, 723 adolescents from Taiwan (M age = 14 years) were asked about their current and past use of transitional objects. Measures of attachment were obtained using the Revised Adult Attachment Scale, and attitude toward help was measured using the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. In total, 37% of the sample continued transitional object use in adolescence. Current use of a transitional object differentiated the sample on the measures of attachment and help seeking. Transitional object users were less likely to have secure attachments and less likely to express positive attitudes toward seeking help. Transitional object use is prevalent in Taiwanese adolescents, and we suggest that continued use of a transitional object acts as an indicator of potential withdrawal from support offered in schools.     

贝叶斯推理的三重加工心智模型

自二十世纪60年代Edwards首次用实验研究人类推理是否遵循贝叶斯规则以来,国内外贝叶斯推理研究取得了长足的发展,但也出现了一些困境:对影响贝叶斯推理的客体因素和主体因素研究未成体系,解释理论莫衷一是。未来的研究应该重新审视客体与主体的关系,系统整合和多角度分析影响贝叶斯推理的因素,尝试以三重加工心智模型解释人类贝叶斯推理行为,并对以往的解释理论进行融合,从而更好地揭示人类不确定性决策的本质。     

Meaning and object in Freud's theory of language

This article sets out to challenge the interpretation of Freud's views on the origins of the meaning of language according to which meaning always originates from an act of naming. In Freud's terms, word‐presentations would originally denote object‐ or thing‐presentations and gain meaning through this reference. This interpretation claims that this view was already expressed in Freud's On Aphasia (1891) and influenced all his later theory of language. To oppose this claim, three conceptions proposed by Freud are discussed that strongly suggest the participation of language in the construction of the field of objects: a metapsychological hypothesis (the concepts of word‐, thing‐, and object‐presentation), the explanation of a psychopathological phenomenon (the genesis of a fetishistic object‐choice), and a concept concerning the foundations of the psychoanalytic method of dream interpretation (secondary elaboration). As a conclusion, it is argued that Freud's early views in On Aphasia (1891) can be alternatively understood such as to allow for a different view of language and its relationship with objects.     

多目标追踪任务中不同运动方式非目标的抑制机制

采用多目标追踪范式结合点探测技术的方法, 考察视觉系统对不同运动方式(静止和规则运动)非目标的抑制机制。实验一将部分非目标设置为静止, 考察静止非目标的抑制机制; 实验二将部分非目标设置为规则运动, 以提高任务难度, 考察规则运动非目标的抑制机制。结果发现: (1) 实验一中静止非目标受到抑制, 抑制量与运动非目标没有差异; (2) 实验二中规则运动非目标受到抑制, 抑制量显著小于随机运动非目标; (3)综合两实验发现, 随着任务难度的提高, 只有随机运动非目标的抑制量显著增加, 而静止非目标与规则运动非目标的抑制量差异不显著。最后, 就视觉系统对不同运动方式非目标的抑制机制进行了讨论。     

费尔贝恩人格客体关系理论的心理治疗观

英国精神分析学家费尔贝恩在修正与发展弗洛伊德和克莱因思想的基础之上,提出了一种纯粹的人格客体关系理论,他发展了一套修正的心理病理学思想。他认为,精神分裂是所有心理病理现象的基础;心理治疗的目标是要让病人从无意识中释放坏的客体和减少自我的分裂、达到人格的整合,而分析师与病人的关系则是心理治疗的中心。     

汉语儿童的语音加工技能与其单词朗读技能的关系研究

以121名小学五年级学生为被试,采用测验法,考察了汉语儿童的语音技工技能与其英文单词朗读技能的关系。结果表明:语音加工技能的三种成分均能够对英文单词朗读技能产生影响,其中,语音意识对单词朗读技能具有重要影响,快速命名能力和语音工作记忆也能够对单词朗读技能产生影响。     

Destructive and reparative transference in multiple levels of group psychotherapy

Group members are challenged to form psychologically meaningful relationships with therapists, other members, and the group as a whole. The way in which individuals perceive this challenge is based on their past experiences. Early relationships establish a perceptual frame in which fears of being hurt and concern about hurting others coexist. Balance between these two ways of generating meaning enables individuals to form relatively healthy relationships. Imbalance in this perceptual frame results in distorted perceptions and maladaptive patterns emerging as transference manifestations. Working through involves repeatedly addressing distortions as members relate to therapists, others and the group as a whole.