Why the brain needs language in order to be self-conscious

It has been argued that natural language, in the form of inner speech, plays a central role in self-consciousness. However, it is not quite clear why. In this paper, we present a novel answer to the why question. According to the thesis presented in this paper, the brain as a physical system is limited in observing itself and relies on the mediation of natural language for the reconstruction of its phase space trajectory. Drawing on knowledge gathered on the measurement of dynamical systems, we detail the unique properties of natural language that may support this reconstruction.     

Methodological Challenges in Causal Research on Racial and Ethnic Patterns of Cognitive Trajectories: Measurement, Selection, and Bias

Research focused on understanding how and why cognitive trajectories differ across racial and ethnic groups can be compromised by several possible methodological challenges. These difficulties are especially relevant in research on racial and ethnic disparities and neuropsychological outcomes because of the particular influence of selection and measurement in these contexts. In this article, we review the counterfactual framework for thinking about causal effects versus statistical associations. We emphasize that causal inferences are key to predicting the likely consequences of possible interventions, for example in clinical settings. We summarize a number of common biases that can obscure causal relationships, including confounding, measurement ceilings/floors, baseline adjustment bias, practice or retest effects, differential measurement error, conditioning on common effects in direct and indirect effects decompositions, and differential survival. For each, we describe how to recognize when such biases may be relevant and some possible analytic or design approaches to remediating these biases.     

Regularized Finite Mixture Models for Probability Trajectories

Finite mixture models are widely used in the analysis of growth trajectory data to discover subgroups of individuals exhibiting similar patterns of behavior over time. In practice, trajectories are usually modeled as polynomials, which may fail to capture important features of the longitudinal pattern. Focusing on dichotomous response measures, we propose a likelihood penalization approach for parameter estimation that is able to capture a variety of nonlinear class mean trajectory shapes with higher precision than maximum likelihood estimates. We show how parameter estimation and inference for whether trajectories are time-invariant, linear time-varying, or nonlinear time-varying can be carried out for such models. To illustrate the method, we use simulation studies and data from a long-term longitudinal study of children at high risk for substance abuse. This work was supported in part by NIAAA grants R37 AA07065 and R01 AA12217 to RAZ.     

视角对高频汉字识别的影响

用EyeLinkII型眼动仪为实验设备 ,以汉字与双眼形成的视角为自变量 ,研究了视角对高频汉字识别的影响特点。本实验中的视角分为 7个水平 :2°、4°、7°、1 0°、1 3°、1 6°、1 9° ,通过自编程序 ,计算出固定距离条件中不同视角下汉字的大小 ,呈现在计算机屏幕上 ,要求被试发声识别汉字。通过对反应时、注视时间、注视次数、眼跳时间、眼跳次数、眨眼时间、眨眼次数的分析。结果发现 :不同视角条件下的反应时总体差异不显著 ,反应时随视角的变化曲线为抛物线 ,开口向上 ;汉字识别的最适宜视角为 1 0°～ 1 1°。     

词汇习得年龄效应的研究进展

近年来的大量研究表明,词汇习得的年龄是影响词汇加工的一个重要因素。本文首先阐述了词汇习得年龄效应产生的可能机制,包括语音完整性假设、累计频率假设、任意映射假设和语义假设,然后介绍近年来研究的最新动向,并提出了需要进一步研究的问题。     

奖励和惩罚在注意控制过程中的优化和分离：眼动研究

通过两个眼动实验考察金钱奖励和惩罚引起的动机对个体在不同空间线索条件下注意控制加工的影响。实验1采用朝向/反向眼跳范式, 被试通过内源性线索提供心理准备的情况下做出简单的朝向眼跳以及需要抑制优势反应的反向眼跳。结果发现, 相比无奖惩条件, 奖励条件下朝向眼跳任务的正确率更高, 惩罚条件下反向眼跳任务的正确率更高; 两种眼跳任务中有奖惩条件下的眼跳峰速度均比无奖惩条件高。实验2采用Go/No-go任务, 进一步探讨了由副中央凹加工外源性边缘线索从而不能提供充分心理准备的情况下奖励和惩罚对注意控制的影响。结果发现, 奖励条件下Go反应的眼跳潜伏期更短, 惩罚条件下No-go反应正确率更高, 眼跳峰速度在两种条件下均比无奖惩条件高。以上结果表明, 奖励和惩罚均能够促进个体的注意控制, 但二者的加工过程是分离的, 奖励能够改善趋近行为, 惩罚则能够显著促进抑制控制行为, 且奖励和惩罚在注意控制加工过程中具有不同的作用模式, 奖励能够更早唤醒注意控制系统从而更快地促进行为的发生与执行, 惩罚则能够通过调节注意资源促进以目标为导向的行为中对优势反应的抑制。     

亲子和同伴依恋对初中生心理素质发展的影响:个人中心分析视角

本研究旨在考察初中生心理素质的发展轨迹以及亲子和同伴依恋对其的影响。三所中学的442名初一学生和501名初二学生参加了三轮追踪调查,初测平均年龄M =12.83,SD =0.74。结果发现,初一学生,心理素质发展轨迹可分为中-降组（79%）和高-升组（21%）两个亚群组;且初一上父子依恋或母子依恋水平越高,心理素质发展轨迹为高-升组的概率大于中-降组。初二学生,心理素质发展轨迹可分为低-稳组（84%）和高-升组（16%）两个亚群组;且初二上父子依恋水平越高,心理素质发展轨迹为高-升组的概率大于低-稳组。结果表明初中生心理素质发展轨迹可以分为不同的亚群组类型,父子依恋和母子依恋对初中生心理素质发展有积极作用,这些发现对于初中生心理素质的培养具有一定的指导意义。     

多变量追踪研究的模型整合与拓展：考察往复式影响与增长趋势

追踪研究当中, 交叉滞后模型可以探究多变量之间往复式影响, 潜增长模型可以探究个体增长趋势。对两类模型进行整合, 例如同时关注往复式影响与个体增长趋势, 同时可以定义测量误差、随机截距等变异成分, 衍生出随机截距交叉滞后模型、特质-状态-误差模型、自回归潜增长模型、结构化残差潜增长模型等。以交叉滞后模型和潜增长模型分别作为基础模型, 从个体间/个体内变异分解的角度对上述各类模型梳理, 整合出此类模型的分析框架, 并拓展建立“因子结构化潜增长模型(factor latent curve model with structured reciprocals)”作为统合框架。通过实证研究(早期儿童的追踪研究-幼儿园版, ECLS-K), 建立21049名儿童的阅读和数学能力的往复式影响与增长趋势。研究发现, 分离了稳定特质的模型拟合最优。研究也对模型建模思路和模型选择提供了建议。     

局部注意干扰效应中的眼动特征

采用眼动追踪范式,本研究通过两个实验探讨局部注意干扰效应（LAI）的注意分配特点和机制。实验一采用搜索时间有限的范式,目标呈现70毫秒后消失,在行为和眼动指标上均发现LAI效应：当两个目标距离较近时,反应时增加,正确率降低,总注视时长增长、注视点增加和眼跳速度加快。实验二增加目标呈现时间至1500毫秒以鼓励搜索,产生了比实验一更强烈的LAI效应,且眼跳速度的模式也有不同,说明增加搜索时间并不利于减轻LAI,从而推断LAI的竞争发生在判断阶段,而非搜索和识别目标阶段。