Self-face advantage is modulated by social threat - Boss effect on self-face recognition

Human adults usually respond faster to self-face than to faces of others. The self-face advantage has been associated with an implicit positive association with the self. The current work investigated whether social threats modulate self-face recognition by asking graduate students to identify orientations of self-face in a high-threat context, in which self-face and a faculty advisor’s face were presented in one block of trials, or in a low-threat context, in which self-face and a face of another faculty member were presented in one block of trials. We found a self-face advantage in the low-threat context but a self-face disadvantage in the high-threat context (i.e., slower responses to self-face compared to the advisor’s face). Moreover, the self-face disadvantage positively correlated with the degree of fear of negative evaluations from advisors. Our findings suggest that self-face recognition is strongly modulated by social interactions with influential superiors within social hierarchies.     

新颖语义联结在顿悟促进记忆效果中的作用

采用成语谜题选择任务, 通过学习-测验范式探究顿悟促进记忆的认知神经机制。实验1采用行为实验, 验证成语谜题选择范式在探究顿悟促进记忆中的有效性, 结果显示, 相比于寻常联结条件, 新颖联结条件下被试在学习阶段具有更高的顿悟感得分, 在测试阶段具有更高的正确率, 范式的有效性得以验证。实验2采用fMRI技术探究顿悟促进记忆的关键脑区。结果显示, 相比于失败记忆新颖联结条件, 成功记忆新颖联结条件更强地激活了顿悟过程相关脑区, 包括海马、杏仁核、额中回、颞上回和颞中回。这说明在学习阶段的顿悟问题解决过程中, 对信息的深加工与积极情绪促进了随后的记忆; 对其进一步分析发现, 相比于寻常联结记忆, 新颖联结对记忆的促进效应主要与右侧海马激活有关, 它可能反映了在顿悟问题解决中新颖联结形成过程建立了情节记忆以及新颖且有价值的语义联结。研究结果表明新颖语义联结形成在顿悟促进记忆中发挥了重要作用。     

内隐联想测验：信度、效度及原理

内隐联想测验（Implicit Association Test）是一种评估个体对两个概念的自动化联系强度的间接测量方法,近年来被广泛应用于内隐社会认知研究。有很多证据显示,较之于外显测验,IAT能为研究提供更多新的信息,但其信度、效度指标都有待改善,而且不同学者对其测验原理仍有不同解释。因此,研究者对IAT的应用及对其结果的解释需持谨慎态度。另外,文章还简单介绍了IAT数据处理的新方法和一些IAT的变式。     

错误记忆影响因素的实验研究

本研究采用DRM范式,考察了关联性、学习程度和时间间隔对错误记忆的影响,结果表明:(1)低学习程度和中学习程度下的再认错误率显著高于高学习程度下的再认错误率,说明错误记忆随着学习程度的增加而降低;(2)低关联程度下的再认错误率显著低于中关联程度和高关联程度下的再认错误率,说明关联性高低是引发错误记忆的重要变量;(3)时间间隔对错误再认率没有影响,说明错误记忆不具有时间上的衰退效应,一旦产生后极其顽固,不容易消退,可能更多地受无意识加工的影响。实验结果揭示了错误记忆与真实记忆之间存在着较为复杂的关系。真实记忆可能是错误记忆的根源,而二者的关系在不同影响因素条件下则既有共变又有分离。     

Association Learning with Own‐ and Other‐race Faces in three‐ and six‐month old infants – A longitudinal study

This longitudinal study assessed 133 Caucasian German infants at 3 and 6 months of age to investigate the influence of own‐race and other‐race faces as visual stimuli on association learning in the visual expectation paradigm (VExP). The study is related to the findings on the other‐race‐effect (ORE) which is said to emerge at 6 months of age. Caucasian faces were used as stimuli of a familiar ethnic category, whereas African faces were used as stimuli of an unfamiliar ethnic category. There was no significant difference between the two stimulus classes in infants' reaction time (RT) to stimulus shifts at 3 months. At 6 months of age, infants' RT decreased significantly in the Caucasian faces condition but not in the African faces condition. These results indicate that the processing of other‐race versus own‐race faces by the age of 6 months, which is also the relevant age for the onset of the ORE, has an important influence on the performance on the VExP. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

History of the Association for Creativity in Counseling

Abstract

The Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC), though granted status as the 19th division of the American Counseling Association only three years ago, is rich with history. This article takes the reader through the evolution of ACC and its official journal: The Journal of Creativity in Mental Health (JCMH). The ACC and the JCMHare committed to promoting the values of diversity, creativity, and relational development. Goals include providing a forum for counselors and other mental health professionals to forge growth-fostering relationships and form positive connections. This historical account is a tribute to all those involved in making ACC a reality. It provides interesting and valuable information for anyone interested in ACC or in forming an association.     

Action–effect congruence during observational learning leads to faster action sequence learning

Common coding theory suggests that any action (pressing a piano key) is intimately linked with its resultant sensory effect (an auditory musical tone). We conducted two experiments to explore the effect of varying auditory action–effect patterns during complex action learning. In Experiment 1, participants were assigned to 1 of 4 groups, watched a silent video of a hand playing a sequence on a piano keyboard with no auditory action effect (observation) and were asked to practise and perform the sequence on an identical keyboard with varying action effects (reproduction). During reproduction, Group 1 heard no auditory tones (identical to observed video), Group 2 heard typical scale-ascending piano tones with each key press, Group 3 heard fixed but out-of-sequence piano tones with each key press, and Group 4 heard random piano tones with each key press. In Experiment two, new participants were assigned to 1 of 2 groups and watched an identical video; however, the video in this experiment contained typical, scale-ascending piano sounds. During reproduction, Group 1 heard no auditory tones while Group 2 heard typical, scale-ascending piano tones with each key press (identical to observed video). Our results showed that participants whose action–effect patterns during reproduction matched those in the observed video learned the action sequence faster than participants whose action–effect patterns during reproduction differed from those in the observed video. Additionally, our results suggest that adding an effect during reproduction (when one is absent during observation) is somewhat more detrimental to action sequence learning than removing an effect during reproduction (when one is present during observation).     

The different representational frameworks underpinning abstract and concrete knowledge: Evidence from odd-one-out judgements

Recent evidence from neuropsychological investigations of individuals with global aphasia and deep or deep-phonological dyslexia suggests that abstract and concrete concepts are underpinned by qualitatively different representational frameworks. Abstract words are represented primarily by their association to other words, whilst concrete words are represented primarily by their taxonomic similarity to one another. In the current study, we present the first evidence for this association/similarity distinction to be gathered from healthy research participants. Using a semantic odd-one-out task, it is shown that normal participants identify associative connections more quickly than similarity-based connections when processing abstract words, but that the pattern is reversed for concrete words. It is also demonstrated that the typical concrete-word advantage observed in many cognitive tasks is abolished and even reversed when participants have to comprehend the semantic associations between words. The data provide converging evidence for the different representational frameworks hypothesis and suggest that claims based on information from previous neuropsychological investigations can be generalized to normal cognition.     

Influence of Strategy on Muscle Activity During Impact Movements

Participants (N = 10) made flexions or extensions about the elbow. Movements either were pointing (i.e., self-terminated) or terminated by impact on a barrier. The author examined how the trajectory and the electromyographic (EMG) patterns varied according to the distance moved, the instruction provided concerning speed, or the type of termination. Variations in kinematics induced by changes in the target distance or the instruction regarding speed were the same for impact and pointing movements. In comparison with a pointing movement of similar distance and speed instruction, an impact movement (a) accelerated longer and reached a higher velocity, (b) had a longer agonist EMG burst, and (c) had a low level of contraction that started slightly after the agonist burst and continued throughout the movement but had little or no antagonist burst. Because the different types of movements required different forces from the muscles, there were systematic, task-specific differences in EMG patterns that reflected task-specific differences in central control. The results of this experiment demonstrate that impact movements share some of the rules used in the control of other tasks, such as pointing and reversing movements. The sharing is not imposed by mechanical or physiological constraints but, rather, represents the imposition of internal constraints.     

Two ways of listening to the patient

This paper highlights the tension between, on the one hand, listening to the patient's associative flow with evenly suspended attention, and, on the other hand, the vigilance and alertness required of the analyst when interpreting the transference through the patient's projective identifications. With reference to the work of Christopher Bollas, it is held that there is a fundamental ambiguousness about analytic work which in fact is desired, but that work with free associations to a large extent has unfortunately become obsolete.