平衡蒙汉双语者词汇与物理位置空间信息的语义表征

采用空间词不对称判断与Simon任务混合范式考察平衡蒙汉双语者词汇与物理位置空间信息的语义表征特点。实验一以平衡蒙汉双语者为被试,发现Simon效应所受影响在蒙汉语言间无差异。实验二以蒙-汉-英三语者为被试,发现Simon效应所受影响在汉语英语间、蒙语英语间有差异。本研究表明,平衡双语者词汇空间信息与物理位置空间信息存在共享语义表征,语言熟练程度影响一语和二语与共享表征的联结强度,验证了修正层级模型。     

Cross‐sectional study on the relationship between music training and working memory in adults

Learning to play musical instruments has been shown to enhance a wide variety of cognitive domains. The present study investigated the specific aspects of working memory (WM) that differed between adult musicians and non‐musicians. Twenty‐four musicians and 30 non‐musicians matched for age, gender, years of formal education, and verbal intelligence performed several WM tasks. A multivariate analysis of covariance, wherein family income was controlled, revealed that musicians outperformed non‐musicians in tasks related to visual–motor coordination, visual scanning ability, visual processing speed, and spatial memory. However, no significant differences were found in phonological and visual memory capacity. This study supports the view that music training is associated to specific (and not general) WM skills.     

‘Emotional turbulence’: the development of symbolic thinking in the psychotherapeutic treatment of an adolescent girl

Abstract

This paper is drawn from doctoral research which analysed clinical data from the once weekly psychotherapy of a young person who experienced both gender identity dysphoria and an eating disorder and whose depression had proved resistant to other interventions. Based on the psychoanalytic thinking of Klein, Segal, Bion and others regarding the role of symbolisation in development, the links between symbol formation, the depressive position and the negotiation of the Oedipus complex are outlined. Special attention is given to current thinking about the nature and genesis of gender identity dysphoria in the light of these concepts. The association with autistic features for a number of cases is briefly explored. In the light of these theoretical links, findings from the study are used to investigate and illustrate the movement this patient made within her therapy from an emotionally turbulent position where concrete thinking was manifest, to a more symbolic way of thinking that allowed emotional change, and less concrete acting out. Clinical narrative excerpts as well as findings from the study are used to discuss the progress made by the patient and to evaluate how her journey may inform future practice.     

Combining Value‐focused Thinking and Balanced Scorecard to Improve Decision‐making in Strategic Management

Goal orientation is key to strategic management. In this field, the Balanced Scorecard is one of the most widely used management tools. It structures a company's main objectives from different perspectives based on the strategy of the firm and uses performance indicators to measure the achievement of objectives and strategy. However, its method of creation is not theoretically sound. Value‐focused thinking is a decision‐making philosophy that fits perfectly with Balanced Scorecard creation. It provides methods and techniques for the identification and structuring of objectives that are suitable to systematically derive a scorecard from a means‐ends network. However, such a means‐ends network is often too complex for enduring use in strategic management. By adapting the network's structure to the Balanced Scorecard's layout, the profound and clear set of derived objectives and their measures serve as a reasonable basis for applying methods of multi‐criteria decision‐making in an organization. This paper aimed to outline a procedure that merges the Balanced Scorecard and value‐focused thinking by preserving each concept's strengths while eliminating their weaknesses. A six‐step process was developed theoretically and employed empirically in a case study. This process included (1) identifying objectives; (2) structuring objectives; (3) characterizing clusters of objectives; (4) formulating mission, vision, and strategy; (5) designing the scorecard; and (6) monitoring and adapting to change. On the basis of this approach, a Management Scorecard was produced that enabled strategy development and execution, put forth a clear and comprehensive means‐ends network, and visualized a company's most important objectives and their relationships structured through perspectives roughly following the Balanced Scorecard. It acts as a foundation for research to generalize and compare findings regarding goals of organizations. Our procedure demonstrates how scientific methods, such as value‐focused thinking, can yield benefits to practitioners' instruments, like the Balanced Scorecard, and how management tools can likewise improve scientific methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

三维图形的视空间工作记忆容量研究

采用三维几何图形为材料,通过单探测变化觉察范式来测定视觉工作记忆的存储容量,并比较客体工作记忆和空间工作记忆容量的差异。实验1、2的材料分别为由颜色和形状两个基本特征组成的三维图形和由一个基本特征和一个细节特征组成的三维图形。两个实验结果显示,被试能在视觉工作记忆中存储约2-3个客体和4个空间位置,空间工作记忆容量显著大于客体工作记忆容量。进一步的比较发现,被试对由两个基本特征组成的三维图形的存储容量大于由一个基本特征和一个细节特征组成的三维图形。这表明,组成三维图形的特征类型对视空间工作记忆的存储容量有显著影响。     

Age-related similarities and differences in monitoring spatial cognition

Spatial cognitive performance is impaired in later adulthood but it is unclear whether the metacognitive processes involved in monitoring spatial cognitive performance are also compromised. Inaccurate monitoring could affect whether people choose to engage in tasks that require spatial thinking and also the strategies they use in spatial domains such as navigation. The current experiment examined potential age differences in monitoring spatial cognitive performance in a variety of spatial domains including visual–spatial working memory, spatial orientation, spatial visualization, navigation, and place learning. Younger and older adults completed a 2D mental rotation test, 3D mental rotation test, paper folding test, spatial memory span test, two virtual navigation tasks, and a cognitive mapping test. Participants also made metacognitive judgments of performance (confidence judgments, judgments of learning, or navigation time estimates) on each trial for all spatial tasks. Preference for allocentric or egocentric navigation strategies was also measured. Overall, performance was poorer and confidence in performance was lower for older adults than younger adults. In most spatial domains, the absolute and relative accuracy of metacognitive judgments was equivalent for both age groups. However, age differences in monitoring accuracy (specifically relative accuracy) emerged in spatial tasks involving navigation. Confidence in navigating for a target location also mediated age differences in allocentric navigation strategy use. These findings suggest that with the possible exception of navigation monitoring, spatial cognition may be spared from age-related decline even though spatial cognition itself is impaired in older age.