视觉工作记忆在视觉搜索中的作用

视觉工作记忆在视觉搜索中的作用远比偏向竞争模型所描述的要复杂,个体能根据当前任务要求灵活地利用工作记忆来引导注意选择。在系统回顾已有研究的基础上,从客体工作记忆、空间工作记忆和执行工作记忆3个方面探讨了视觉工作记忆在视觉搜索中的作用。根据近期的研究,文章在最后对视觉工作记忆在视觉搜索中的作用做了7点总结,并对已往研究中存在的若干问题给予了解释,指出未来应该从前瞻记忆和内隐记忆等角度对视觉搜索中所涉及的视觉记忆进行深入研究     

心理旋转中的性别差异

性别差异是认知心理学中一个重要的研究领域。男性在执行空间认知任务时的表现往往好于女性,在心理旋转任务中,这种现象更为普遍。近年来,人们在行为和脑成像等层面对心理旋转中的性别差异进行了大量的研究,该文通过对其中一部分研究的回顾描述了心理旋转的性别差异在行为及脑成像实验中的表现,总结了可能导致这种性别差异的生理及策略等因素     

Dietary restriction inhibits spatial learning ability and hippocampal cell proliferation in rats1

Abstract: We investigated the effect of dietary restriction on spatial learning ability and hippocampal cell proliferation in adult rats using two spatial learning tasks and immunohistochemical staining with 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU). Sixteen rats were divided into restricted or ad lib feeding groups at 70 days of age, and were trained in the delayed‐matching‐to‐place (DMTP) task (a working memory task) from 93 days of age, and then the Morris water maze task (a reference memory task). Dietary restriction had no effect on the DMTP task with 30 s delay and on the water maze task. However, in the DMTP task with 30 min delay, restricted rats performed significantly more poorly than ad lib rats. Quantitative analysis of hippocampal cell proliferation revealed that the density of newborn cells in restricted rats was significantly lower than that in ad lib rats. These results suggest that a loss of proliferating capacity in the hippocampus may be a candidate for an anatomical and biological basis for the cognitive decline caused by dietary restriction.     

时间隐喻中的空间参照框架

在时间隐喻研究早期, 研究者多将时间隐喻分为“自我移动”和“时间移动”两类, 关注的是“自我移动”和“物体移动”空间参照框架向时间概念的系统映射。最近, 有研究者在语料分析的基础上, 提出了由其他空间参照框架映射而来的新的时间参照系, 并确立了新的理论, 其中以自我参照点和时间参照点理论、三大参照系理论最具代表性。文章对“自我移动”和“时间移动”隐喻方面的最新研究及目前空间-时间隐喻方面一些新的参照点/系理论和相关实证研究进行了述评。     

情绪加工的脑时空动态机制

本文综述了罗倩博士及其同事在近年来开展的情绪研究工作。他们通过认知行为和脑成像技术(包括fMRI、MEG), 系统考察了情绪刺激的自动化、优先加工的神经机制, 具体包括三个方面的研究内容：(1)阈下情绪加工(相对于阈上水平)的神经机制; (2)参与情绪加工的脑区之间的动态时空关系及功能联结; (3)情绪与注意之间的交互作用。     

早期ERP效应与视觉注意空间等级的脑调节机制

通过事件相关电位(ERP)记录研究注意的空间等级的脑内时程动态变化。视觉搜索任务的目标受不同大小提示范围的启动。提示范围增大时,识别目标的反应时延长,P1波幅增大而N1波幅减小,该效应在短间隔条件下尤为明显。P1增大反映了促进目标识别时,适当注意范围的空间等级变化需要额外的运算资源。而N1波幅减小则可能扩散了空间注意倾斜。研究结果提供了以下电生理学证据：注意空间等级的改变调节了早期视皮层的神经活动,并激活了视觉搜索中至少2个时间重叠的ERP成分。     

虚拟路径整合的学习效应

路径整合指通过自身运动信息对自身位置进行更新的过程。本研究使用头盔式虚拟现实系统和分段式迷宫, 在两个实验中检验在同样布局的外出路径上重复地进行路径完成任务是否会改善被试的反应表现。实验1中的外出路径具有相对较简单的空间布局, 实验结果表明, 男性和女性被试均在反应时、位置误差、角度误差上表现出了学习效应, 即第二次在同样空间布局的外出路径上进行路径完成任务时的表现比第一次有了显著的改善。实验2中的外出路径具有更复杂多样化的空间布局, 而实验结果表明, 男性和女性被试均在反应时和比例位置误差上表现出了学习效应, 但是路径更复杂时要求更多次数的重复才可以提高路径整合成绩。这些研究结果为路径整合能力训练的可行性提供了初步的实证依据。     

权力概念加工对视觉空间注意定向的影响：一个ERP证据

概念表征是认知心理学研究的一个重要领域。具身认知理论认为, 在概念加工过程中, 个体会以具身模拟的形式对概念所暗含的空间方位信息进行理解。本研究采用事件相关电位技术, 考察抽象权力概念加工时的激活特点。实验首先要求被试对出现在屏幕中央的词进行权力高/低判断, 接着在屏幕的上方或者下方呈现一个字母(“m”或“n”), 要求被试对目标物进行按键反应。结果发现, 当权力词隐喻的空间特性与目标物出现的位置一致时诱发了一个更大的N1波幅, 不一致时诱发了一个更大的P3波幅。该结果提示, 抽象权力概念加工时会产生自动激活空间上-下意向图示, 对权力词的加工影响了随后字母位置的判断, 并将空间注意指向了与意向图示相一致的位置, 从时间加工进程看, 起始于早期的知觉识别并一直持续到晚期的高级认知加工阶段, 权力概念加工具有内隐性。     

Improving left spatial neglect through music scale playing

The study assessed whether the auditory reference provided by a music scale could improve spatial exploration of a standard musical instrument keyboard in right‐brain‐damaged patients with left spatial neglect. As performing music scales involves the production of predictable successive pitches, the expectation of the subsequent note may facilitate patients to explore a larger extension of space in the left affected side, during the production of music scales from right to left. Eleven right‐brain‐damaged stroke patients with left spatial neglect, 12 patients without neglect, and 12 age‐matched healthy participants played descending scales on a music keyboard. In a counterbalanced design, the participants' exploratory performance was assessed while producing scales in three feedback conditions: With congruent sound, no‐sound, or random sound feedback provided by the keyboard. The number of keys played and the timing of key press were recorded. Spatial exploration by patients with left neglect was superior with congruent sound feedback, compared to both Silence and Random sound conditions. Both the congruent and incongruent sound conditions were associated with a greater deceleration in all groups. The frame provided by the music scale improves exploration of the left side of space, contralateral to the right hemisphere, damaged in patients with left neglect. Performing a scale with congruent sounds may trigger at some extent preserved auditory and spatial multisensory representations of successive sounds, thus influencing the time course of space scanning, and ultimately resulting in a more extensive spatial exploration. These findings offer new perspectives also for the rehabilitation of the disorder.     

Decay of Stimulus Spatial Code in Horizontal and Vertical Simon Tasks

Evidence on the processes underlying the horizontal and vertical Simon effect is still controversial. The present study uses experimental manipulations to selectively delay the stages of response execution, response selection, and stimulus identification in three experiments. A reduction is observed for both horizontal and vertical Simon effects when response execution is delayed by a go-signal presented 400–600 ms post-stimulus onset or when a spatial precue is presented 200–400 ms before the stimulus. When the overlap between stimulus spatial code formation and response selection is prevented by decreasing stimulus discriminability, the horizontal Simon effect decays, but the vertical Simon effect does not change. Activation theories, which propose a decay of the automatically activated response ipsilateral to the stimulus, mainly apply to the horizontal Simon effect. In contrast, translation theories, which propose that the effect occurs when stimulus features are translated into a response code, are more suitable to account for the vertical Simon effect.