Perceiving a part and the whole of narrative scenes with interactive processing between character and surroundings

Visual recognition is a fast and accurate process. This study adopted a progressive revelation task which demonstrated the dynamic visual process to investigate narrative scene perception. Experiment 1 examined the recognition of character and surroundings that are presented in isolation. The results demonstrated an accumulation of perceptual evidence for recognition as a psychometric function, and character identification was found to be superior to surroundings identification (character advantage effect). Experiment 2 examined the character and surroundings identification in isolated and concurrent presentations. The results showed that less accumulated evidence was required for the concurrent condition than for the isolated condition in the surroundings identification but not in the character identification. The character advantage effect only appeared in the isolated condition. In Experiment 3, both the character and surroundings in semantically consistent or inconsistent scenes were reported. The results showed that consistency effects appeared in both character and surroundings reporting, and the character advantage effect appeared in both consistent and inconsistent conditions. Overall, the results of the present study, which have high ecological validity, supported the existence of an interactive relationship between the visual processing of character and surroundings in narrative scene perception.     

Why are negative behaviours likely to be immediately invoked traits? The effects of valence and frequency on spontaneous trait inferences

People make trait inferences immediately when observing others’ behaviours. Previous studies reported that this spontaneous trait inference (STI) occurs more strongly from negative behaviours than from positive behaviours. However, what is responsible for this negativity bias in STI is unclear. In this study, two experiments investigated the effects of valence (an event's affective positivity or negativity) and frequency (how frequently the behaviour is observed in everyday life) on the occurrence of STI using an adapted version of a savings‐in‐relearning paradigm. Experiment 1 revealed that only valence affected the frequent occurrence of STI. In addition, the instructions to suppress impression formation or to focus attention on an actor's face made no difference to the results. In Experiment 2, the negativity bias in STIs was shown a week after exposure to the behavioural stimuli. These results suggest that the negativity bias in STIs occurs robustly, and the negative valence of observed behaviour is mostly responsible for the negativity bias in STI. The importance of immediate categorization of negative stimuli is discussed in terms of ecological priority.     

An exploratory study of psychodynamic therapists’ working with people with multiple sclerosis

There is little published on working psychodynamically with chronic illness and even less on the clinical insights of therapists working with people with multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study was to consider therapists’ reflections on the impact of multiple sclerosis on the internal worlds of clients with multiple sclerosis. I would also like to think about the challenges multiple sclerosis presents and how these challenges are worked with therapeutically. Finally, the impact of my multiple sclerosis diagnosis upon the research interviews was considered. Twelve counsellors / psychotherapists who had experience of working with clients with multiple sclerosis were interviewed. Data was analysed thematically and the findings revealed a number of significant themes. Denial appeared significant both for those with multiple sclerosis and those therapists working with them. Therapists also identified that people with multiple sclerosis hold a range of conscious and unconscious feelings in relation to their multiple sclerosis. Also, the meanings and impact of multiple sclerosis are broad and idiosyncratic. Therapists also faced a number of challenges in their work with people with multiple sclerosis: powerful countertransference feelings which could disable the therapy, embodied countertransference, the tendency to make generalisations, the physical reality of multiple sclerosis and its impact upon continuity, therapists’ unconscious phantasy and associations which if unaddressed could impact their ability to work with illness and the pressure multiple sclerosis placed on therapeutic boundaries. Therapists within the study recognised the need to work with both the physical reality of multiple sclerosis, as well as its psychological impact while at the same time keeping themselves open to powerful countertransference feelings and using them in the service of the therapy. The study has implications for theory, practice and future research.     

躯体知觉的认知神经机制

摘 要：人类躯体是由各部位按照一定的空间关系组成的,与人类面孔相似,也是对称的。它也能提供个体身份和行为方式等信息,如年龄、性别、意图、情感状态等。它与面孔相辅相成,共同促成对个体身份的辨别。躯体知觉是指大脑对进入视觉加工系统中的人类躯体刺激的侦察,感知或识别。躯体知觉应当如面孔知觉研究一样受到更多的关注。文章概述、评价了躯体知觉相关的认知神经研究,着重介绍了躯体知觉的认知和神经机制,并提出了一些值得进一步研究的问题。     

自上而下的因素对掩蔽启动中自动加工过程的影响

本文综述并探讨了自上而下因素的调节对启动过程的影响作用。自上而下因素的调节作用是指根据外界不断更新的对行为的要求, 大脑皮层的活动被设定于某种特殊的工作模式中。启动过程是指先前出现的启动刺激对随后目标刺激加工的易化和抑制, 是自动加工过程的体现。近年来, 部分研究认为启动范式引发的自动加工过程(包括知觉加工、语义加工和反应过程)可受到与注意、任务相关的自上而下因素的调节, 例如, 任务指导语的作用、对注意范围的设定等等。本文对此领域的研究及年龄因素进行了总结、分析和展望。启动效应可受到自上而下的注意、目的、任务要求等因素的调节, 且存在年龄因素的影响。     

On psychoanalytic supervision

The author provides both a theoretical context for, and clinical illustrations of, the way in which he thinks and works as a psychoanalytic supervisor. The analytic supervisory experience is conceived of as a form of 'guided dreaming'. In the supervisory relationship, the supervisor helps the analyst to dream (to do conscious and unconscious psychological work with) aspects of the analytic relationship that the analyst is unable to dream or is only partially able to dream. It is the task of the supervisory pair to 'dream up' the patient, that is, to create a 'fi ction' that is true to the supervisee's emotional experience with the analysand. To carry out this work, the supervisor must provide a frame that ensures the supervisee's freedom to think and dream and be alive to what is occurring in the analytic and the supervisory relationship, as well as in the interplay between the two. In one of the clinical illustrations presented, the author illustrates his conception of the importance of the feeling on the part of supervisor and supervisee that (at least occasionally) they have 'time to waste'. Such a state of mind may provide an opportunity for a type of freely associative thinking that enhances the range and depth of what can be learned from the supervisory experience. In another clinical example, the author describes his own experience in supervision with Harold Searles, which contributed to his conception of the supervisory process.     

物体隐含的形状信息对图片再认的影响

采用移动窗口技术探讨阅读中信息在头脑中的表征方式和激活策略。实验材料分为句子和图片。按句子隐含形状与再认图片的匹配关系分为匹配与不匹配版本。实验1在中文条件下验证知觉符号理论;实验2进一步探讨知觉符号的激活策略。采用相关样本t检验对图片的反应时进行分析,结果发现实验1中匹配再认时显著短于不匹配再认时;实验2中匹配与不匹配再认时无显著差异。从而支持知觉符号理论并进一步说明知觉符号的激活是策略性加工过程。     

To thy own self be true: finding the utility of cognitive information feedback

This study utilized Extended MSE Analysis to investigate the effects of two types of cognitive feedback on judgmental accuracy. Participants judged the income levels of respondents to the General Social Survey in both dilution and non‐dilution scenarios, received feedback, and then repeated those judgments. Task information feedback produced improvements in judgmental accuracy, and this improvement occurred primarily from a reduction in the standard deviation of participants' judgments and an increase in the consistency with which they applied their judgment policies. Cognitive information feedback produced little effect when presented alone, but produced accuracy gains superior to all other conditions when combined with task information. We conclude by discussing the specific conditions whereby each form of feedback is likely to be effective. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

汉语儿童读词者的认知特征及其影响因素

读词者是指能够流畅地进行字词识别和解码, 却难以很好地理解文本内容的学生。以840名小学一到六年级学生为研究对象, 对其进行阅读速度、阅读理解、语素意识(包括同音语素意识、同形语素意识和复合语素意识)、汉字识别、口语词汇、工作记忆、一般智力等测查, 通过现状描述和多分类logistic回归分析, 结果发现：(1)一年级汉语儿童读词者的检出率为0.7%, 二年级之后的检出率在6.5%~10.1%之间; (2)在语言特异性认知因素上, 控制了年龄和智力后, 与其他学生相比, 读词者在汉字识别任务上表现较好, 在语素意识各个任务及口语词汇上表现较差; (3)年龄和智力是造成读词者比率增加的一般因素; (4)同音语素意识和口语词汇是造成读词者比率增加的语言特异性认知因素。     

A Process Interpretation of Daoist Thought

Despite the fact that the Dao De Jing道德經 is one of the mos frequently translated texts in history,most of these translations share certain unexamined and problematic assumptions which often make it seem as though the text is irrational,incoherent,and full of non sequiturs.Frequently,these assumptions involve the imposition of historically anachronous,linguistically unsound,and philosophically problematic categories and attitudes onto the text.One of the main causes of the problem is the persistent tendency on the part of most translators to read the first line of the text as referring to or implying the existence of some kind of "eternal Dao." These are what I term "ontological "readings,as opposed to the "process" reading I will be articulating here.