工作记忆和感觉运动速度在心算加工年老化过程中的作用

对心算加工年老化研究有助于阐明认知老化规律,然而有关心算老化的少量研究结果仍存在不一致甚至矛盾之处。导致这种不一致的原因十分复杂,表面上看,不同认知老化研究所采用的统计方法不尽相同导致了结果的歧异。例如,在心算的年老化研究中,有的研究结论基于群体的数据分析,如层级回归分析(hierarchical regres-sion analyses)或方差分析,如Sahhouse和Coon(1994);另有一些研究先对每一个体数据作线性回归分析,如此得到斜率和截距(分别表示心算的中枢加工时间和外周感觉运动时间),然后再行层级回归分析或方差分析,如Al-len等(1992,1997)。这两类统计分析所得的结果很不一致。从理论上看,只要所采用的统计方法是合理的,统计方法的不尽相同应不会导致矛盾。但在实际情况下,统计分析误差增加了结论不一致的可能性,从而增大了揭示心算老化复杂性规律的难度。事实上,心算活动的年龄差异可能来自于记忆、加工速度等不同认知资源的老化差异。为了深入探讨这一问题,我们进一步研究了工作记忆和感觉运动速度在心算加工年老化过程中的作用。被试共161人,20—79岁,身体健康,受教育年限12年以上,以10岁段划分为6个年龄组,组间文化程度基本匹配。被试任务包括：(1)连续减法心算,分别为1000—3、1000—7、1000—13及1000—17等4种,在排除了被试看屏幕和按键的感觉运动时间后得到心算所需的时间;(2)数字计算工作记忆,根据工作记忆对信息同时进行加工和储存的特点,要求被试计算完题后再回忆答案,以获得工作记忆广度指标;(3)“数字复制”(digit copying),以获得感觉运动速度指标。实验在386微机上进行。对所得数据分别进行了上述群体数据与个体数据分析。两种数据分析方法得到了相同的结果,一致表明,在控制工作记忆与感觉运动速度的年龄差异后,心算活动的年龄差异显著降低。而且,控制感觉运动速度的年龄差异后心算活动年龄差异的降低程度要大于控制工作记忆的年龄差异后心算活动年龄差异的降低程度。这说明,感觉运动速度在心算加工年老化过程中发挥了更大作用。但是,工作记忆与感觉运动速度二者的年龄差异并不能完全解释心算活动的年龄差异,表明心算加工的年老化存在其特殊性过程,不支持认知老化的普遍减慢假说(genenalized slowing hypotllesis)。     

动态系统累积变量判断中的关联启发式

关联启发式是指在累积变量判断中, 将存量与流量建立正相关关系, 认为存量变化特征与流量变化特征具有相似性而导致判断偏差的思维模式。在多特征交互及简单动态系统任务判断中, 关联启发式偏差以不同形式的S-F错误表现出来。作为一种内生性的、顽固的思维模式, 对于关联启发式的心理机制提出了客体偏差、特征替代、不充分调整等多种观点解释。影响关联启发式的个体因素和情境因素的研究结果不尽一致。由于关联启发式偏差直接影响人对复杂系统的可持续性决策和行动, 减少偏差策略的研究也已实现起步。本文系统总结和分析了关联启发式研究的发展脉络, 针对澄清关联启发式的发生机制、系统考察关联启发式的影响因素及其相互作用、丰富和深化关联启发式的研究范式、开发减少关联启发式的有效途径等方面, 提出了深化研究的方向和思路。     

The larger the cause,the larger the effect: evidence of speed judgment biases in causal scenarios

ABSTRACT

When two motions appear to be causally related, the spatiotemporal features of motions are sometimes distorted in order to increase the consistency with causal impressions. Here, in four experiments, we tested if varying the speed of an object A could affect the judged speed of an object B that appeared to be causally related to A. Participants were presented with classic launching stimuli (Experiment 1), a variant of launching stimuli in which A could move with uniformly accelerated or decelerated motion (Experiment 2), non-launching stimuli that elicited a causal impression (Experiment 3), and stimuli showing a three-object launching event (Experiment 4). Main results showed that the judged speed of B was systematically biased towards the speed of A, and moreover that the judged speed of B depended on the average speed of A, rather than on the speed of A at the moment of collision as it would be predicted by Newtonian mechanics. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that internal representations of causal events based on property transmission (for instance, impetus) can affect judgments of the low-level properties of causal scenarios.     

WHEN PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IS THE GOAL: A NEW SET OF CRITERIA FOR CRITERIA

Weitz (1961), aware of the lure of tradition and expedience, urged the identification of evaluation standards for dependent variables, which he referred to as criteria for criteria. In this article, five criteria are proposed using the mnemonic SURF & C: the directness of sampling (S); the responsiveness of the target (i.e., making sure the dependent variable is under (U) the worker's control); the reliability (R) of observers; the frequent (F) assessment of the target during the intervention period; and the critical (C) nature of the target. Together the criteria provide guidelines for what and how targets should be assessed. Their necessity is illustrated in two year-long experiments designed to improve the preventive maintenance of heavy equipment in the U.S. Marine Corps. Although the criteria are limited to evaluating dependent variables in field experiments, they are recommended as the foundation for successful performance efforts in any applied setting.     

The role of inhibition and speed of processing in mathematics

The current study highlights the importance of inhibitory ability in facilitating performance in mathematics. To understand the role of inhibition in mathematical knowledge, this study tested 102 college students on a series of standardized complex math exercises. Inhibition tasks varied by task and stimuli (letters, numbers, and arrows). The result showed stronger associations between math abilities and strength of inhibition with more inhibition found for the flanker task (involving inhibition of peripheral stimuli) than for the Navon task (requiring inhibition of a potential response). The results supported the view that Inhibition in general (which is not unique to numerical stimuli) is associated with math abilities. General, rather than specific inhibition was associated with math abilities and finally, speed of processing masked the relationship between math and inhibition. These results confirm the assumption that the relation between inhibition and math performance is modulated by the task that measures the inhibition, and by additional predictors such as processing speed.     

The Effects of Attentional Focus Instructions and Task Difficulty in a Paced Fine Motor Skill

Abstract

An external focus of attention is considered superior to an internal focus for learning and performance. However, findings specific to changing the task difficulty are inconsistent. The present study used a reciprocal aiming task to determine the effects of attentional focus on motor performance using speed-accuracy paradigm. We constrained timing to examine how internal and external focus of attention influenced accuracy when task difficulty changes. The results indicated greater accuracy on the right target and greater consistency on both targets for the external focus condition, regardless of task difficulty. Our results uniquely demonstrated how instruction modified a speed-accuracy task.