The flexibility of association between temporal concepts and physical space in the Japanese language

Previous studies have indicated that temporal concepts such as the past and future are associated with horizontal (left–right) space. This association has been interpreted as reflecting left‐to‐right writing systems. The Japanese language, however, is written both horizontally and vertically and, when texts are presented vertically, the sequence of columns runs from right to left. This study examines whether the associations between time and space are changed by the direction of the character strings using a word categorization task. Consistent with previous studies, response times and error rates indicated left‐past and right‐future associations when participants read words presented horizontally. On the other hand, response times indicated the opposite (i.e., left‐future and right‐past associations) when participants read words presented vertically. These results suggest that temporal concepts are not associated with one's body or physical space in an inflexible manner, but rather the associations can flexibly change through experience.     

The memory‐impairing effects of simulated amnesia for a mock crime

The present study examined whether mock offenders, who were instructed to falsely deny crime details or to simulate amnesia, would consequently experience impaired memory. Ninety‐three university students were first asked to commit a mock crime and were then assigned to three different conditions (i.e., false denial, simulated amnesia, and truth telling) and then received the first memory test. The following day, participants completed a second memory test. Results showed that the memory impairment was not observed in participants in the false denial condition. However, in the simulated amnesia group, memory about being interviewed in the first session was impaired. The simulated amnesia group also had lower recollection and belief ratings in the occurrence of true details for the mock event. Findings suggest that after simulating amnesia, offenders can forget details related to the interview and exhibit diminished ratings for the recollection of and belief in their memory for experienced events.     

不同性质的汉语高熟悉度隐喻意义加工过程——来自ERP研究的证据

采用ERP技术考察不同性质隐喻加工的时间进程与神经机制。以词对方式呈现词源性隐喻、引发性隐喻、一般字面义,被试进行语义相关判断任务。结果发现:从引发性隐喻、一般字面义到词源性隐喻,N400平均波幅呈阶梯状递减,引发性隐喻和词源性隐喻的P600平均波幅大于一般字面义。对于不同类型词对诱发的N400,大脑左半球没有显著差异,但右半球上引发性隐喻显著大于词源性隐喻和字面义词对。并且右半球P600平均波幅更大,但三种词对间没有显著差异。结果表明:(1)日常熟悉隐喻的理解更符合平行假说但需要更多的认知资源;(2)右半球是否参与以及参与程度与隐喻性质和加工阶段有关。     

时间隐喻研究述评

综述了近十多年来时间隐喻研究的现况,分析了时间隐喻表征的主要维度,结果表明大多数研究都认为时间隐喻的原型为空间-时间隐喻。从运动方式、方向和形状论述了空间－时间隐喻的构念特点,并讨论了空间-时间隐喻产生的心理机制以及关于空间、时间图式在隐喻映射中的相互关系的几种理论构想和实证研究。由于现有研究主要宏观地对时间隐喻进行了语义分析和跨文化研究,未来研究将更侧重于微观地研究时间隐喻的认知过程及其与人格间的相互影响     

A conceptual metaphor framework for the teaching of mathematics

Word problems in mathematics seem to constantly pose learning difficulties for all kinds of students. Recent work in math education (for example, [Lakoff, G. &; Nuñez, R. E. (2000). Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. New York: Basic Books]) suggests that the difficulties stem from an inability on the part of students to decipher the metaphorical properties of the language in which such problems are cast. A 2003 pilot study [Danesi, M. (2003a). Semiotica, 145, 71–83] confirmed this hypothesis in an anecdotal way. This paper reviews the implications of that study and of a follow-up one that is described here as well, in the light of how the metaphorical analysis of word problems allows learners to overcome typical difficulties in word problem-solving by teaching them how to flesh out the underlying concepts and convert them into appropriate representations.     

The Local Minima Problem in Hierarchical Classes Analysis: An Evaluation of a Simulated Annealing Algorithm and Various Multistart Procedures

Hierarchical classes models are quasi-order retaining Boolean decomposition models for N-way N-mode binary data. To fit these models to data, rationally started alternating least squares (or, equivalently, alternating least absolute deviations) algorithms have been proposed. Extensive simulation studies showed that these algorithms succeed quite well in recovering the underlying truth but frequently end in a local minimum. In this paper we evaluate whether or not this local minimum problem can be mitigated by means of two common strategies for avoiding local minima in combinatorial data analysis: simulated annealing (SA) and use of a multistart procedure. In particular, we propose a generic SA algorithm for hierarchical classes analysis and three different types of random starts. The effectiveness of the SA algorithm and the random starts is evaluated by reanalyzing data sets of previous simulation studies. The reported results support the use of the proposed SA algorithm in combination with a random multistart procedure, regardless of the properties of the data set under study. Eva Ceulemans is a post-doctoral fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (Belgium). Iwin Leenen is a post-doctoral researcher of the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (programa Ramón y Cajal). The research reported in this paper was partially supported by the Research Council of K.U. Leuven (GOA/05/04).     

The mind beyond our immediate awareness: Freudian, Jungian, and cognitive models of the unconscious

Abstract: Several branches of cognitive science now focus on the nature of the unconscious. This paper explores some of the findings and models from this research. By introducing formulations based on non‐clinical data, the cognitive scientists—in neural linguistics, computational modelling, and neuroscience—may depart from the older psychoanalytic formulations. An understanding of unconscious neural processes is nevertheless emerging showing how synapses are modified by experience and how learning, conscious and unconscious, is due to this important aspect of brain plasticity. Freud and Jung's formulations about the unconscious psyche, representing the main tenets of depth psychology, are also based on a conception of the mind as extending beyond immediate awareness. However, their models are more hypothetical in that their data, almost exclusively, come from treatments of psychotherapy patients and their verbal accounts. So how do these two conceptions of the unconscious match, where do they differ? And how does the neural understanding in the present research support theories and practices of analytic treatments?     

Sensory consciousness explained (better) in terms of ‘corporality’ and ‘alerting capacity’

How could neural processes be associated with phenomenal consciousness? We present a way to answer this question by taking the counterintuitive stance that the sensory feel of an experience is not a thing that happens to us, but a thing we do: a skill we exercise. By additionally noting that sensory systems possess two important, objectively measurable properties, corporality and alerting capacity, we are able to explain why sensory experience possesses a sensory feel, but thinking and other mental processes do not. We are additionally able to explain why different sensory feels differ in the way they do.     

Breast Cancer and the Descent: The Loss and Return of Spring

This article approaches breast cancer as an initiation into a healing process that provides the opportunity for the transformation of a basic fault in the personality. Breast cancer will be approached as a metaphor alerting one to a crises of interiority, a loss of connection to ones inner dimension and ones feminine consciousness. This metaphor contains both the loss of the connection and the possibility of its recovery. The process involves a velocity of descent very difficult to endure; it involves a profound and accelerated unraveling of the rationality that previously served as a container stabilizing the ego. The perilousness of the descent imagery reflects the precipitousness of this unraveling. The precipitous descent is seen as an attempt of the soul to heal and reintegrate the personality by revisiting and illuminating a space abandoned long ago. The integration of this part of the personality results in a return of generativity, energy, and creativity.