Anticipation across modalities in children and adults: Relating anticipatory alpha rhythm lateralization,reaction time,and executive function

The development of the ability to anticipate—as manifested by preparatory actions and neural activation related to the expectation of an upcoming stimulus—may play a key role in the ontogeny of cognitive skills more broadly. This preregistered study examined anticipatory brain potentials and behavioral responses (reaction time; RT) to anticipated target stimuli in relation to individual differences in the ability to use goals to direct action (as indexed by measures of executive function; EF). A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in 40 adults (aged 18–25 years) and 40 children (aged 6–8 years) to examine the association of changes in the amplitude of modality-specific alpha-range rhythms in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during anticipation of lateralized visual, tactile, or auditory stimuli with inter- and intraindividual variation in RT and EF. Children and adults exhibited contralateral anticipatory reductions in the mu rhythm and the visual alpha rhythm for tactile and visual anticipation, respectively, indicating modality and spatially specific attention allocation. Variability in within-subject anticipatory alpha lateralization (the difference between contralateral and ipsilateral alpha power) was related to single-trial RT. This relation was more prominent in adults than in children, and was not apparent for auditory stimuli. Multilevel models indicated that interindividual differences in anticipatory mu rhythm lateralization contributed to the significant association with variability in EF, but this was not the case for visual or auditory alpha rhythms. Exploratory microstate analyses were undertaken to cluster global field power (GFP) into a distribution-free temporal analysis examining developmental differences across samples and in relation to RT and EF. Anticipation is suggested as a developmental bridge construct connecting neuroscience, behavior, and cognition, with anticipatory EEG oscillations being discussed as quantifiable and potentially malleable indicators of stimulus prediction.     

Role of siblings in adult daughters' anticipation of caregiving

Despite extensive research regarding adult daughters' experiences as caregivers to aging parents, little attention has been paid to how adult daughters anticipate future caregiving roles. The current study examines the impact of sibling networks on the caregiving anticipation of 103 adult daughters. Factors influencing the expectation and amount of support adult daughters anticipate include daughters' birth order and proximity to their mothers. Characteristics of the sibling networks, including percentage of sisters within the family, are also important to care anticipation.     

Temporal discrimination learning of operant feeding in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Operant temporal discrimination learning was investigated in goldfish. In the first experiment, there was a fixed daily change in illumination. Eight subjects were trained to operate a lever that reinforced each press with food. The period during which responses were reinforced was then progressively reduced until it was 1 hr in every 24. The final 1-hr feeding schedule was maintained over 4 weeks. The feeding period commenced at the same time each day throughout. The food dispensers were then made inactive, and a period of extinction ensued for 6 days. The pattern of responding suggested that the fish were able to exhibit temporal discrimination in anticipation of feeding time. This pattern of responding persisted for a limited number of days during the extinction procedure. The second experiment produced evidence that operant temporal discrimination could develop under continuous illumination.     

From visual-motor anticipation to conceptualization: Reaction to solid and hollow objects and knowledge of the function of containment

This research investigates the development of visual-manual coordination during infancy with respect to the spatial property of concavity and the development of the capacity to expect or understand that a hollow object affords specific manual behaviors. Tumblers closed at the top by a plexiglas plate were used: They seemed to be open but resisted introduction of the hand. Infants' behavior towards these deceptive objects was compared with their behavior towards identical objects that looked and felt closed or open. The results show that from the 8th month infants exhibit to the deceptive objects an anticipatory visuomotor behavior and from ninth month they exhibit exploratory behavior that suggests that they are trying to understand the discrepancy between the objects' visual and tactile properties. It can therefore be concluded that a rudimentary conceptualization of containment appears to be elaborated by infants from ninth month.     

贝叶斯决策理论对复杂运动决策中运动预期的启发——以网球和足球为例

对运动决策的研究是认知运动心理学的一个重要领域。运动预期被认为是运动决策的核心, 受到运动学和非运动学信息的影响。其中, 对运动预期研究的一个关键问题是探讨不同信息源对运动结果预期的贡献以及两者之间的相互作用。研究者运用贝叶斯决策理论解释运动预期中不同信息的整合过程, 分析运动员在复杂的竞赛情景中如何做出最佳决策, 尤其是对该理论在网球和足球领域的潜在应用进行分析。在不确定的情况下, 竞技体育中并非所有的选择、结果或概率都是已知的, 故有研究者认为概率论和经典的决策理论不能有效解决此类问题。然而新近提出的启发式近似, 为运动员在贝叶斯框架下如何快速做出选择提供了理论依据：首先, 在复杂和有时间压力的竞赛情景中, 启发式近似假设运动员依据竞赛中不同信息源的不确定程度, 很可能选择在运动学信息和情境先验之间进行切换启发式, 提高运动预期的效率。其次, 判断效用通过卷积效应影响两种信息源的整合, 降低情境先验的影响程度。     

跨视听通道主动遗忘的期待加工与抑制控制过程：来自ERPs的证据

基于视觉通道的研究表明,人们可以通过主动抑制记忆提取而实现遗忘。但目前对跨通道的主动遗忘尚缺乏探讨。本研究以声音为记忆线索,以文字为目标记忆,采用“想/不想”范式,探究主动遗忘在跨视听通道条件下的可行性。结果发现,“不想”条件下目标记忆的回忆率低于基线条件,主动遗忘发生。此外,我们通过分离任务指令和记忆线索的呈现时间,在中央区域的ERP中发现了记忆抑制的期待效应;并在额叶观察到“不想”条件下晚期正成分的增强,反映了持续的抑制控制过程。本研究不但验证了跨视听通道主动遗忘的可能性,而且第一次从ERPs角度分离了跨通道遗忘相关的期待加工和抑制控制过程。     

个体对效价预期和风险评估的时程加工机制:来自ERP的证据

采用事件相关电位技术(ERP),通过简单赌博任务,操纵结果预期的效价(输或赢)与风险(高风险与低风险),考察了个体对结果预期阶段的效价和风险评估的脑内时程动态加工过程。脑电结果发现:(1)在N2成分上,结果预期的效价主效应显著,预期输比预期赢能够引起更大的N2波幅;结果预期的风险主效应不显著。(2)在N500成分上,效价与风险之间的交互作用边缘显著,进一步简单效应分析发现,在预期输的条件下,肯定会输的N500波幅显著大于可能会输;而在预期赢的条件下,肯定会赢与可能会赢之间的N500波幅差异不显著。这说明,在不确定决策过程中的结果预期阶段,个体可能先对结果预期的效价进行加工,然后再对风险进行评估。     

Development of Postural Adjustment During Gait Initiation: Kinematic and EMG Analysis

The authors studied the development of postural adjustments associated with the initiation of gait in children by using kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) analysis. Participants (N = 28) included infants with 1-4 and 9-17 months of walking experience, children 4-5 years of age, and adults. Anticipatory postural adjustments (APA) were present in the youngest age groups, including a clear anticipatory lateral tilt of the pelvis and the stance leg, which enabled the child to unload the opposite leg shortly before its swing phase. An anticipatory activation of the hip abductor of the leg in stance phase prior to heel-off was found, suggesting pelvis stabilization. APA did not appear consistently until 4-5 years of age. A decrease in segmental oscillations occurred across the ages, indicating better control of intersegmental coordination in the frontal and sagittal planes during the postural phase of gait initiation. Young walkers presented APA involving movements of both the upper and the lower parts of the body, whereas, like adults, 4- to 5-year-olds were able to laterally shift only the pelvis and the stance leg. The oldest children and the adults also showed lower activation levels of hip and knee muscles but higher activation at the ankle level. Those kinematic and EMG results taken together suggest a clear developmental sequence from an en bloc operation of the body through an articulated operation with maturation, walking experience, or both.     

Infants’ perception of goal-directed actions: A multi-lab replication reveals that infants anticipate paths and not goals

Influential developmental theories claim that infants rely on goals when visually anticipating actions. A widely noticed study suggested that 11-month-olds anticipate that a hand continues to grasp the same object even when it swapped position with another object (Cannon, E., & Woodward, A. L. (2012). Infants generate goal-based action predictions. Developmental Science, 15, 292–298.). Yet, other studies found such flexible goal-directed anticipations only from later ages on. Given the theoretical relevance of this phenomenon and given these contradicting findings, the current work investigated in two different studies and labs, whether infants indeed flexibly anticipate an action goal. Study 1 (N = 144) investigated by means of five experiments, under which circumstances (e.g., animated agent, human agent) 12-month-olds show flexible goal anticipation abilities. Study 2 (N = 104) presented 11-, 32-month-olds and adults both a human grasping action as well as a non-human action. In none of the experiments did infants flexibly anticipate the action based on the goal, but rather on the movement path, irrespective of the type of agent. Although one experiment contained a direct replication of Cannon and Woodward (2012), we were not able to replicate their findings. Overall our work challenges the view that infants are able to flexibly anticipate action goals from early on, but rather rely on movement patterns when processing other’s actions.     

Rats’ anticipation of current and future trial outcomes in the ordered RNR/RNN serial pattern task

In the ordered RNR/RNN serial pattern task, rats often reduce their running speeds on trial 2 less within the RNR than within the RNN series. Initially, investigators (Capaldi, 1985; Capaldi et al., 1983) considered this trial 2 differential speed effect evidence for rats’ anticipation of inter-trial outcomes within each series. Later findings, however, suggest that this effect reflects some generalization of the ordinal position of trial 3 (Burns et al., 1986) or its similar runway cues during trial 2 (Capaldi et al., 1999). To test these generalization hypotheses, we made trial 2 more distinct from trial 3 in each series by forcing rats to alternate runways in a T-maze only on the last trial rather than on trial 2 in each series in Experiment 1, or by forcing rats to alternate runways between trials rather than to run down the same runway on all trials within each series in Experiment 2. Although enhancing the distinctiveness between these trials reduced the trial 2 differential speed effect, extensive training failed to eliminate it. Therefore, this residual difference between trial 2 speeds could reflect rats’ anticipation of trial 3 outcomes during trial 2 as originally proposed by Capaldi (1985) Experiment 3 was designed to determine whether we could enhance rats’ final trial outcome expectancies during trial 2 by making different trial 2 choices distinctive cues for each trial 3 outcome. The trial 2 speed effect was greater when rats were forced to alternate over all trials only within one of the series than when they were sometimes forced to do so in either series. Post-training probe tests revealed that both series position and the relevant within-series runway events contributed to this enhanced anticipation of trial 3 outcomes.