判断框架对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响

研究采用包含两种判断框架（判断刺激出现的先后次序）的时序判断任务探讨了决策偏向对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响。实验结果表明,时序知觉中存在着位置启动效应,而且在两个靶刺激出现时间间隔不同时,被试在“哪个靶刺激先出现”和“哪个靶刺激后出现”两种判断框架下的正确率存在显著差异,但在两个靶刺激同时出现时并没有出现显著的判断框架效应。因此,本研究推测时序知觉位置启动效应的作用机制不仅包括知觉增强加工过程,而且也与认知决策有关,这为反应偏向理论提供了新的支持证据。     

左右半球在语篇理解中的协同作用

通过2例一侧颞叶损伤患者研究了一侧颞叶损伤及两侧半球的协同作用对语篇理解的影响,并探讨了发生此种影响的可能机制。结果表明一侧颞叶的损伤将导致患者语篇水平的理解障碍及语言推理能力的下降;提示语篇理解需双侧半球的协同作用,而推理能力下降可能是引发语篇理解障碍的原因之一。     

Individual differences in vulnerability to subjective time distortion1

Time duration is perceived to be longer when accompanied by dynamic sensory stimulation than when accompanied by static stimulation. This distortion of time perception is thought to be due to the acceleration of an internal pacemaker that has been assumed to be the main component of temporal judgments. In order to investigate whether the function of the internal pacemaker is modality dependent or independent, we examined the correlation of visual flicker and auditory flutter effects on a temporal production task. While seeing a 10‐Hz visual flicker or hearing a 10‐Hz auditory flutter, participants estimated a duration of 2500 ms as accurately as possible by pressing a button. The results showed a significant within‐individual correlation between the time distortion due to visual flicker and that due to auditory flutter. Additionally, we found that time distortion due to auditory flutter tended to be larger in female participants than in male participants. These results suggest that the mechanisms underlying subjective time dilation are similar between vision and audition within individuals, but that they vary across individuals.     

The interaction of temporal generalization gradients predicts the context effect

In a temporal double bisection task, animals learn two discriminations. In the presence of Red and Green keys, responses to Red are reinforced after 1-s samples and responses to Green are reinforced after 4-s samples; in the presence of Blue and Yellow keys, responses to Blue are reinforced after 4-s samples and responses to Yellow are reinforced after 16-s samples. Subsequently, given a choice between Green and Blue, the probability of choosing Green increases with the sample duration-the context effect. In the present study we asked whether this effect could be predicted from the stimulus generalization gradients induced by the two basic discriminations. Six pigeons learned to peck Green following 4-s samples (S(+)) but not following 1-s samples (S(-)) and to peck Red following 4-s samples (S(+)) but not following 16-s samples (S(-)). Temporal generalization gradients for Green and Red were then obtained. Finally, the pigeons were given a choice between Green and Red following sample durations ranging from 1 to 16 s. Results showed that a) the two generalization gradients had the minimum at the S(-) duration, an intermediate value between the S(-) and the S(+) durations, and the maximum at the S(+) as well as more extreme durations; b) on choice trials, preference for Green over Red increased with sample duration, the context effect; and c) the two generalization gradients predicted the average context effect well. The Learning-to-Time model accounts for the major trends in the data.     

Building phrases in language production: An MEG study of simple composition

Although research on language production has developed detailed maps of the brain basis of single word production in both time and space, little is known about the spatiotemporal dynamics of the processes that combine individual words into larger representations during production. Studying composition in production is challenging due to difficulties both in controlling produced utterances and in measuring the associated brain responses. Here, we circumvent both problems using a minimal composition paradigm combined with the high temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography (MEG). With MEG, we measured the planning stages of simple adjective–noun phrases (‘red tree’), matched list controls (‘red, blue’), and individual nouns (‘tree’) and adjectives (‘red’), with results indicating combinatorial processing in the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and left anterior temporal lobe (LATL), two regions previously implicated for the comprehension of similar phrases. These effects began relatively quickly (∼180 ms) after the presentation of a production prompt, suggesting that combination commences with initial lexical access. Further, while in comprehension, vmPFC effects have followed LATL effects, in this production paradigm vmPFC effects occurred mostly in parallel with LATL effects, suggesting that a late process in comprehension is an early process in production. Thus, our results provide a novel neural bridge between psycholinguistic models of comprehension and production that posit functionally similar combinatorial mechanisms operating in reversed order.     

Neural processing of intentional biological motion in unaffected siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder: An fMRI study

Despite often showing behaviorally typical levels of social cognitive ability, unaffected siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder have been found to show similar functional and morphological deficits within brain regions associated with social processing. They have also been reported to show increased activation to biological motion in these same regions, such as the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), relative to both children with autism and control children. It has been suggested that this increased activation may represent a compensatory reorganization of these regions as a result of the highly heritable genetic influence of autism. However, the response patterns of unaffected siblings in the domain of action perception are unstudied, and the phenomenon of compensatory activation has not yet been replicated. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine the neural responses to intentional biological actions in 22 siblings of children with autism and 22 matched controls. The presented actions were either congruent or incongruent with the actor’s emotional cue. Prior studies reported that typically developing children and adults, but not children with autism, show increased activation to incongruent actions (relative to congruent), within the pSTS and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We report that unaffected siblings did not show a compensatory response, or a preference for incongruent over congruent trials, in any brain region. Moreover, interaction analyses revealed a sub-region of the pSTS in which control children showed an incongruency preference to a significantly greater degree than siblings, which suggests a localized deficit in siblings. A sample of children with autism also did not show differential activation in the pSTS, providing further evidence that it is an area of selective disruption in children with autism and siblings. While reduced activation to both conditions was unique to the autism sample, lack of differentiation to incongruent and congruent intentional actions was common to both children with ASD and unaffected siblings.     

An empirical and computational investigation of perceiving and remembering event temporal relations

Events have beginnings, ends, and often overlap in time. A major question is how perceivers come to parse a stream of multimodal information into meaningful units and how different event boundaries may vary event processing. This work investigates the roles of these three types of event boundaries in constructing event temporal relations. Predictions were made based on how people would err according to the beginning state, end state, and overlap heuristic hypotheses. Participants viewed animated events that include all the logical possibilities of event temporal relations, and then made temporal relation judgments. The results showed that people make use of the overlap between events and take into account the ends and beginnings, but they weight ends more than beginnings. Neural network simulations showed a self-organized distinction when learning temporal relations between events with overlap versus those without.     

A Reinforcer Pathology perspective on relapse

The Reinforcer Pathology theory proposes conditions under which drugs emerge as excessively preferred reinforcers compared to other available reinforcers among drug users. The theory highlights 2 key variables as important determinants of drug preference: (a) excessive preference for immediate rewards (high discounting of future rewards); and (b) excessive valuation for addictive reinforcers (e.g., drugs). Two iterations of the Reinforcer Pathology theory exist with the latest iteration (i.e., Reinforcer Pathology 2.0) specifying that the temporal window of reinforcer integration (measured by delay discounting) is a determinant of reinforcer value. The 2 iterations of the Reinforcer Pathology theory are described. A novel insight and understanding of abstinence and relapse from a Reinforcer Pathology perspective, limitations, and future directions are discussed. The Reinforcer Pathology theory continues the long-standing efforts to scientifically understand and better define novel concepts and methods to further translational research and improve treatment outcomes. Exploring the complementary relation between the Reinforcer Pathology perspective and other current approaches could have a valuable effect.     

When Intertemporal Rewards Are Hedonic,Larger Units of Wait Time Boost Patience

In intertemporal choices between smaller‐sooner (SS) and larger‐later (LL) rewards, five studies reveal that patience for the LL option is influenced by an interactive effect of the measurement units used to express wait time (large vs. small) and the type of the reward (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Specifically, larger time units boost patience, but more so when rewards are hedonic rather than utilitarian. In line with the numerosity heuristic, the effect of time units on patience is mediated by larger time units shrinking wait time perception. This effect arises because hedonic (vs. utilitarian) rewards promote a reliance on heuristics rather than systematic calculations. Therefore, a more calculative mindset diminishes the effect of units even for hedonic rewards and eliminates the hedonic‐utilitarian asymmetry. These results contribute to research on numerosity, intertemporal choice, and hedonic‐utilitarian differences, and offer a simple tool for practitioners to influence patience.