An inexpensive and automated method for presenting olfactory or tactile stimuli to rats in a two-choice discrimination task

An inexpensive and automated method for presentation of olfactory or tactile stimuli in a two-choice task for rats was implemented with the use of a computer-controlled bidirectional motor. The motor rotated a disk that presented two stimuli of different texture for tactile discrimination, or different odor for olfactory discrimination. Because the solid olfactory stimuli were placed outside the chamber in metal pods with a mesh at front for odor sampling, "washout" of odors between trials was not necessary. To avoid differential auditory cues from motor rotation, the stimuli were arranged such that on each trial the motor always rotated exactly one quarter revolution (in 1 s), left or right, to present the next stimulus at trial start. To illustrate the use of the equipment, 2 rats were trained on tactile discrimination and 2 rats on olfactory discrimination. The rats sampled the stimulus on the disk through a port on the back wall by sniffing at it (olfactory) or touching it (tactile). The task was a go-left/go-right discrimination with the stimulus on the disk being discriminative for which lever provided reinforcement. The rats reached a stable level above 90% correct after 21 and 32 training sessions for tactile and olfactory discrimination, respectively. The article outlines how the equipment was constructed from low-cost components. Inputs from and outputs to the equipment were implemented through the parallel port of a personal computer without the use of a commercial interface board. The method of automated and low-cost presentation of olfactory or tactile stimuli should be of use for a variety of experimental situations such as matching-to-sample and cross-modal discrimination.     

字词视觉空间特征在中文阅读眼动控制中的作用

研究采用4（呈现方式：小－小、小－大、大－小、大－大）×2（文本内容：句子、“※”串）的被试内设计,考察了文本字符呈现大小对读者眼跳选择目标和注视持续时间的影响。结果发现：（1）读者在浏览不同呈现方式的“※”串时的眼动模式基本上与阅读相应呈现方式的句子类似;（2）句子完全是由双字词构成,词内的首字和尾字大小不等（‘小－大”和“大－小”呈现条件）严重影响阅读效率;（3）读者在阅读句子时的注视时间高于浏览“※”串时的注视时间。结果说明,视觉呈现方式和词汇加工均影响读者的眼动模式。     

Chilled to the bone: embodied countertransference and unspoken traumatic memories

Starting from a deeply challenging experience of early embodied countertransference in a first encounter with a new patient, the author explores the issues it raised. Such moments highlight projective identification as well as what Stone (2006) has described as ‘embodied resonance in the countertransference’. In these powerful experiences linear time and subject boundaries are altered, and this leads to central questions about analytic work. As well as discussing the uncanny experience at the very beginning of an analytic encounter and its challenges for the analytic field, the author considers ‘the time horizon of analytic process’ (Hogenson 2007 ), the relationship between ‘moments of complexity and analytic boundaries’ (Cambray 2011 ) and the role of mirror neurons in intersubjective experience.     

Facing the mirror: A relativist account of immune nonconceptual self-representations

There is a consensus among philosophers that some “I”-thoughts are immune to error through misidentification. In some recent papers, this property has been formulated in the following deflationist way: an “I”-thought is immune to error through misidentification when it can misrepresent the mental or bodily property self-ascribed but cannot misrepresent the subject (if any) possessing that property. However, it has been put forward that the range of mental and bodily states that are immune in that limited sense cannot include nonconceptual forms of self-representation. In this paper, I claim the opposite. I argue in favor of a theoretical framework inspired by semantic relativism that solves the problem of immune nonconceptual self-representations. In order to do so, I refute an argument against the relativist account which is based on the existence of shared representations. This argument, I contend, rests on a confusion between two conditions to which a relativist may appeal when considering whether a certain mental content is relative to the self: a strong invariance condition and a weak invariance condition. I then argue that even if we acknowledge the existence of shared representations, the weak invariance condition is still satisfied, and consequently the relativist framework can make sense of INSRs. I argue that this weak invariance condition is satisfied by a representational function that self-relativizes certain representations. I then provide an empirical instance of such a function by discussing some of the recent literature on motor representations and the sense of agency. In the last part of the paper, I answer several potential objections. These potential objections lead me to distinguish two fundamental kinds of error relative to the self: error through misidentification and error through misapplication. This distinction allows me to answer a fundamental question raised by the very idea of de facto immunity to error through misidentification.     

Exploring the influence of encoding format on subsequent memory

Distinctive encoding is greatly influenced by gist-based processes and has been shown to suffer when highly similar items are presented in close succession. Thus, elucidating the mechanisms underlying how presentation format affects gist processing is essential in determining the factors that influence these encoding processes. The current study utilised multivariate partial least squares (PLS) analysis to identify encoding networks directly associated with retrieval performance in a blocked and intermixed presentation condition. Subsequent memory analysis for successfully encoded items indicated no significant differences between reaction time and retrieval performance and presentation format. Despite no significant behavioural differences, behaviour PLS revealed differences in brain–behaviour correlations and mean condition activity in brain regions associated with gist-based vs. distinctive encoding. Specifically, the intermixed format encouraged more distinctive encoding, showing increased activation of regions associated with strategy use and visual processing (e.g., frontal and visual cortices, respectively). Alternatively, the blocked format exhibited increased gist-based processes, accompanied by increased activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus. Together, results suggest that the sequence that information is presented during encoding affects the degree to which distinctive encoding is engaged. These findings extend our understanding of the Fuzzy Trace Theory and the role of presentation format on encoding processes.     

有关镜像神经元起源问题上的争论

文章阐述了镜像神经元起源问题上的争论及其最新进展。镜像神经元的独特之处在于,它在动作知觉和动作执行两个阶段皆被激活。这一知觉和操作的匹配机制究竟是怎样形成的?遗传论观点认为镜像神经元的匹配机制是有机体适应环境的结果,由于镜像神经元具有理解他人动作意图的特殊功能,因而被自然选择,通过遗传而得到传递。联结论则主张这种匹配机制只不过是大脑皮层动作神经元对感觉刺激形成的一种条件反射,是个体经验的结果。镜像神经元的"进化-发展观"则采纳渐成论的观点,认为镜像神经元的起源和进化不可能是联结学习单独造就的,而是进化的、生物的、发展性的、社会认知方面的和基于经验的各种因素的联合作用。     

拼音在中文学习中的作用及加工机制

拼音作为增强汉字形音转换的桥梁在中文学习和教学中被广泛应用。为深入了解拼音在中文学习中的作用及其加工机制,在系统梳理已有研究成果的基础上,分别从拼音学习对语音意识发展的影响,拼音的注音方式和呈现方式对汉字学习的影响,拼音加工的认知神经机制三个方面进行综述。研究结果表明,拼音学习可以促进语音意识的发展;不同的拼音注音方式和呈现方式会对汉字学习产生不同的影响;拼音加工的机制与汉字加工存在不同,但拼音加工的机制仍有待于进一步深入。     

Perceptual commensuration in decision tables

This paper calls attention to design features that could enhance the helpfulness of the decision table to decision makers trying to get a better intuitive grasp of the choices facing them. The experiments reported here show that the grey scale is more facilitative than the number scale for problem comprehension as measured by the identification of dominance and the identification of non-additivity, each of which requires a view of the decision problem that is sensitive to patterns across attributes. Additional design features that could enhance the decision makers’ grasp of the choices facing them are suggested for further research.     

从“变色龙效应”到“镜像神经元”再到“模仿过多症”—— 作为社会交流产物的人类无意识模仿

人类无意识模仿是指人们在社会交流时会相互无意识地模仿对方的一些动作、表情和行为方式。其在个体社会认知以及人际交流上扮演着重要的角色。通过回顾近十年来人类无意识模仿的各个领域内的研究进展, 以及分析无意识模仿的行为学效应, 脑神经机制以及病理学调控, 可以得出如下结论：所有神经层面以及行为层面的人类无意识模仿现象都是社会交流的产物。该观点在澄清无意识模仿神经机制以及促进幼儿社会认知发展方面具有一定启示意义, 而探索孤独症患者无意识模仿障碍的病理机制有望为该领域的未来研究开启新的方向。