Melodies in caregivers' speech: A species-specific guidance towards language

The author reports on a series of integrated studies on melodic contours in infant-directed (ID) speech. ID melodies in speech are taken as an instructive example of intuitive parenting in order to review current evidence on its forms, functions and determinants. The forms and functions of melodic prototypes are compared in terms of universal properties and individual and/or cultural variability across samples of German, Chinese and American mothers, and German mothers and fathers with their 2- and 3-month-old infants. Microanalyses of interactional contexts show that forms and functions of ID melodies are intimately related to typical dimensions of intuitive caregiving–arousing/soothing, turnyielding/turn-closing, approving/disapproving. The communicative functions of ID melodies as both categorical and graded signals are discussed with respect to the current knowledge on infant responses to ID speech and on early speech perception. According to a comprehensive longitudinal study of ID speech in relation to stages of infant vocalization, ID speech results from fine-tuned adjustments in various prosodic and linguistic features to developmental changes in infants' perceptual and vocal competence. ID melodies evidently have the potential to draw infant attention to caregivers' speech, to regulate arousal and affect in infants, to provide models for imitation, to guide infants in practising communicative subroutines and to mediate linguistic information. Current evidence suggests that the melodies in caregivers' speech provide a species-specific guidance towards language acquisition.     

Figure-background segregation and the formation of illusory figures

Three experiments were carried out to test the relationship between figure-background segregation and illusory contours. Illusory figures are believed to arise as byproducts of figure-background segregation. When, in a scene, part of what should be the background becomes an illusory figure, a mechanism of contour attribution favoring the area in which the illusory figure appears takes place. This mechanism is prevented from operating when the attribution of the contour is inhibited by the presence of "groupable" (connectable) contours. Spatial proximity is one of the factors affecting such grouping: the closer the connectable contours, the more likely is their grouping in a single unit and the less likely is the emergence of an illusory figure. Experimental results showed that the illusory effect was established when contours were prevented from being connected. This outcome is interpreted as evidence that a mechanism of contour attribution is effective in the formation of illusory figures.     

Intuitive Covariation Assessment of the Illusory Correlation

Most of the research concerned with the illusory correlation is modeled after the seminal work of D. L. Hamilton and R. K. Gifford (1976). However, S. A. Haslam and C. McGarty (1994) have voiced concerns over the dependent measures used within this paradigm. Therefore, in this study, the authors tested a new dependent variable that has high face validity. This measure was modeled after the work of J. R. McGahan and R. Wight (1989) and consisted of a set of propositional statements representing either the illusory correlation, the contingency opposite the illusory correlation, or the noncontingency. A second purpose of this study was to validate other studies that have used dependent measures modeled after the work of J. R. McGahan and R. Wight (1989). Demonstrating that this measure can be used to detect a well-documented phenomenon (i.e., the illusory correlation) would strengthen the results and conclusions from other studies. To this end, results from 2 experiments indicate that this measure does provide a valid alternative to those measures that are commonly used in illusory correlation studies. The results thereby give credence to other studies that have used similar dependent measures.     

Infants’ perception of curved illusory contour with motion

Recently, Masuda et al. (submitted for publication) showed that adults perceive moving rigid or nonrigid motion from illusory contour with neon color spreading in which the inducer has pendular motion with or without phase difference. In Experiment 1, we used the preferential looking method to investigate whether 3–8-month-old infants can discriminate illusory and non-illusory contour figures, and found that the 7–8-month-old, but not the 3–6-month-old, infants showed significant preference for illusory contour with phase difference. In Experiment 2, we tested the validity of the visual stimuli in the present study, and whether infants could detect illusory contour from the current neon color spreading figures. The results showed that all infants might detect illusory contour figure with neon color spreading figures. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 suggest that 7–8-month-old infants potentially perceive illusory contour from the visual stimulus with phase-different movement of inducers, which elicits the perception of nonrigid dynamic subjective contour in adults.     

汉字识别中的部件加工：错觉性结合实验的证据

本研究用“错觉性结合”的实验范式探讨汉字识别中的部件加工。被试对两个刺激字之后出现的目标字进行再认。结果发现在速示条件下,目标字部件与刺激字的部件相同时（如目标字为“她”,而刺激字为“姓”及“地”）,被试常把目标字误认为刺激字。这种错误再认率随字频及部件频率的升高而降低。此外,刺激字的排列方式不同于字的结构方式时,字频及部件频率的效应减弱。上述结果不但表明整字频率、字的空间组织因素影响汉字识别,更显示部件是汉字认知过程的一个重要加工层次。     

阴谋论信念的产生机制——社会认知视角的三种解释

社会心理学将阴谋论视作一种意识形态上的信念,并定义为人们将重大的政治或社会事件归因为有权力的群体或个人暗中预谋以达成其目的的解释倾向。社会认知视角为个体这种阴谋论信念的产生提供了三种解释。错觉模式感知导致人们认知上倾向于在不相关的事件之间建立联系;敏感性动因觉察影响人们过度感知并假定事件背后的动因、目的和意图等;投射是将自己愿意参与阴谋的意图归因于事件中的他人。     

视觉特征捆绑：基于时间同步还是基于相同空间位置？

通过操纵客体呈现的空间位置和时间顺序,来考察视觉特征捆绑是基于相同空间位置线索还是基于时间邻近线索。在两个实验中,给被试在固定的注视点位置（固定呈现条件）或在注视点上/下位置（变换呈现条件）快速地系列呈现刺激,记录靶子前后各两个时间位置（-2、-1、+1、+2）的错觉性结合（IC）率。结果发现,在固定呈现条件下,IC更多地出现在-1和+1的时间位置上;而在变换呈现条件下,错觉性结合更多地出现在-2和+2时间位置上。为了进一步排除特定实验范式的影响,在实验3中,我们采用特征分离范式,使被分离的刺激特征同时呈现在相同（相同位置同步）或不同（不同位置同步）的空间位置上。结果表明,这两种条件下的IC率无显著差异,这说明错觉性结合不受时间同步模式的影响。综上所述,来自三个实验的结果表明,时间范围内的特征捆绑机制是按空间位置,而不是按时间邻近,线索进行的：若特征的空间位置相同,时间邻近的特征才被捆绑起来;若空间位置不同,即使时间邻近的特征也不能被捆绑到一起。     

Comorbidity of Hyperactivity-Impulsivity-Inattention and Conduct Problems: Risk Factors in Social, Affective, and Academic Domains

Children showing a comorbid behavior pattern of hyperactivity-impulsivity-inattention and conduct problems (HIA + CP) were contrasted to children having only an internalizing and externalizing behavior pattern (I + E) and matched controls. Children displaying the HIA + CP behavior pattern were at greater risk on a number of outcome measures in social and academic domains beginning in Grade 3 and continuing into Grade 4. The most marked differences among the three groups were found on peer measures of rejection and friendship and teacher ratings of social skills. On average, almost two-thirds of the HIA + CP group were rejected by their peers compared to one-third of the I + E group and only 12.5% controls. Over 70% of the HIA + CP group had no reciprocated friendships from Grade 3 to Grade 4 compared to less than half of the I + E group and approximately one-fourth of controls. Contrary to much theorizing in the literature, the HIA + CP and I + E groups showed average levels of academic self-concept and did not differ from controls in on measures of social self-concept and academic self-concept and general self-esteem. These findings were interpreted in light of positive illusory biases and the established link between aggressive behavior and egotism. The current article offers partial support for Lynam's (1996) notion of the fledgling psychopath.