Longitudinal Development of Memory for Temporal Order in Early to Middle Childhood

Abstract

Existing studies examining the development of temporal order memory show that although young children perform above chance on some tasks assessing temporal order memory, there are significant age-related differences across childhood. Yet, the trajectory of children’s ability to retrieve temporal order remains unclear as existing conclusions are drawn from cross-sectional studies. The present study utilized an accelerated longitudinal design in order to characterize the developmental trajectory of temporal order memory in a sample of 200 healthy 4- to 8-year-old children. Specifically, two tasks commonly used in the literature were tested longitudinally: a primacy judgment task and an ordering task. Results revealed that, even after controlling for differences in IQ, linearly increasing trajectories characterized age-related change in performance for both tasks; however, change appeared greater for the temporal ordering task. Further, performance on the two tasks was positively related, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms. These findings provide a more thorough understanding of temporal order memory in early to middle childhood by characterizing the developmental trajectories of two commonly used tasks and have important implications for our understanding of children’s developing memory more broadly.     

时间信息加工与信息加工时间特性双视角下的重要时间参数及其证据

时间既是人类信息加工的对象, 也是(非时间)信息加工的制约因素。数十毫秒至数秒之间的时间加工与人类日常生活关联紧密, 譬如主观计时、演奏及言语等活动。根据以往文献分析可知, 在该时间区域内, 20~ 60 ms、1/3~1 s、2~3 s是研究者关注的重要时间参数, 但是支持这些参数的证据尚存分歧。首先从“时间信息加工”和“信息加工的时间特性”的视角介绍时间参数的基本观点及其提出背景, 然后基于“时间信息加工”视角从行为学研究、脑损伤研究、神经药理学研究, 脑电研究、脑成像研究、经颅磁刺激研究、经颅直流电刺激研究等领域介评了1/3~1 s和2~3 s分界区域的证据, 接着基于“信息加工的时间特性”视角从时序知觉阈限研究、感觉运动同步研究、主观节奏研究、言语行为研究、知觉逆转研究、返回抑制研究及失匹配负波研究等领域介评了20~60 ms和2~3 s时间窗口的证据。未来研究既要注意构建基于分界区域与时间窗口的更强解释力的理论假说, 也要厘清分界区域与时间窗口的联系与区别。     

跨期选择中的年龄差异及其机制

随着老龄化形势日益严峻, 老年人的跨期选择受到越来越多学者的关注。目前关于跨期选择的年老化研究尚存分歧:有研究发现老年人比年轻人更偏好未来获得更大收益; 也有研究发现老年人的选择偏好和年轻人一样, 甚至比年轻人更偏好近期收益。从时间表征和结果价值表征两个维度上的加工过程去分析其对老年人跨期选择的影响, 并进一步阐述认知、动机和情绪因素对两个维度加工过程的影响, 这对于理解当前老年人跨期选择领域研究的分歧有重要科学意义。     

隐藏情绪分析与识别方法

隐藏情绪识别对公共安全防范与预警具有重要的意义。微表情是揭示隐藏情绪的一条重要通道。但目前隐藏情绪研究较少且微表情因其细微幅度与快速出现等特性难以识别, 其研究尚未在实际中广泛应用。因为, 隐藏情绪的认知与表达机理亟需系统的研究,采集实际场景中的微表情数据, 并以脑电信号辅助微表情的精确标注是提高微表情标注效率的有效途径。深入研究微表情识别方法, 并辅以人脸颜色、注视估计和非接触生理信号等多通道数据, 以检测与识别隐藏情绪。社会公共安全是隐藏情绪分析和识别的典型场景。面向精神疾病患者两害行为(即危害自身或他人的危险行为)风险评估和服刑人员会见场景隐藏情绪检测, 可以有效地对相应系统和方法进行验证和修正。     

时间任务需求对无关情绪面孔注意捕获的影响

注意捕获是指与任务无关的刺激能够不自觉地吸引注意的现象。实验一采用视觉搜索任务,考察与主任务无关的情绪面孔的注意捕获水平及其机制,实验二进一步探究时间任务需求对无关情绪面孔注意捕获的影响。结果发现:与其他情绪面孔相比,愤怒的情绪面孔捕获了更多的注意,且受到整体情绪加工的影响;时间任务需求影响了目标刺激的注意选择,但愤怒优势效应不受到时间任务需求的影响,因此可能是一种较为自动化的加工过程。     

Crossmodal temporal order and processing acuity in developmentally dyslexic young adults

We investigated crossmodal temporal performance in processing rapid sequential nonlinguistic events in developmentally dyslexic young adults (ages 20-36 years) and an age- and IQ-matched control group in audiotactile, visuotactile, and audiovisual combinations. Two methods were used for estimating 84% correct temporal acuity thresholds: temporal order judgment (TOJ) and temporal processing acuity (TPA). TPA requires phase difference detection: the judgment of simultaneity/nonsimultaneity of brief stimuli in two parallel, spatially separate triplets. The dyslexic readers' average temporal performance was somewhat poorer in all six comparisons; in audiovisual comparisons the group differences were not statistically significant, however. A principal component analysis indicated that temporal acuity and phonological awareness are related in dyslexic readers. The impairment of temporal input processing seems to be a general correlative feature of dyslexia in children and adults, but the overlap in performance between dyslexic and normal readers suggests that it is not a sufficient reason for developmental reading difficulties.     

小学儿童对日常生活事件时间关系推理能力的初探

探查小学儿童对含有“在什么之前”“同时”日常生活事件时间关系的推理发展过程及其影响因素。被试为7岁、9岁、11岁3个年龄组共54名小学儿童,每个年龄组18人。4种问题模式分别为带有传递关系的单模型问题、带有无关前提的单模型问题、含两个前提的单模型问题、有肯定答案的多模型问题。每种问题模式含3种具体探察任务。主要研究结果表明：在本实验条件下,（1）儿童对事件时间顺序关系的推理从7岁到9岁有快速发展的趋势;（2）单模型和多模型任务无显著差异,模型数量似乎不是影响儿童推理成绩的关键因素;（3）儿童能够主动采用5种策略解决问题。逆向关系传递策略是问题解决的有效策略。     

Effects of reinforcement history on response rate and response pattern in periodic reinforcement

Several researchers have suggested that conditioning history may have long-term effects on fixed-interval performances of rats. To test this idea and to identify possible factors involved in temporal control development, groups of rats initially were exposed to different reinforcement schedules: continuous, fixed-time, and random-interval. Afterwards, half of the rats in each group were studied on a fixed-interval 30-s schedule of reinforcement and the other half on a fixed-interval 90-s schedule of reinforcement. No evidence of long-term effects attributable to conditioning history on either response output or response patterning was found; history effects were transitory. Different tendencies in trajectory across sessions were observed for measures of early and late responding within the interreinforcer interval, suggesting that temporal control is the result of two separate processes: one involved in response output and the other in time allocation of responding and not responding.     

Prefrontal brain activity predicts temporally extended decision-making behavior

Although functional neuroimaging studies of human decision-making processes are increasingly common, most of the research in this area has relied on passive tasks that generate little individual variability. Relatively little attention has been paid to the ability of brain activity to predict overt behavior. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying behavior during a dynamic decision task that required subjects to select smaller, short-term monetary payoffs in order to receive larger, long-term gains. The number of trials over which the longterm gains accrued was manipulated experimentally (2 versus 12). Event-related neural activity in right lateral prefrontal cortex, a region associated with high-level cognitive processing, selectively predicted choice behavior in both conditions, whereas insular cortex responded to fluctuations in amount of reward but did not predict choice behavior. These results demonstrate the utility of a functional neuroimaging approach in behavioral psychology, showing that (a) highly circumscribed brain regions are capable of predicting complex choice behavior, and (b) fMRI has the ability to dissociate the contributions of different neural mechanisms to particular behavioral tasks.