Can Language Do the Driving? The Effect of Linguistic Input on Infants' Categorization of Support Spatial Relations.

Two experiments explored the effect of linguistic input on 18-month-olds' ability to form an abstract categorical representation of support. Infants were habituated to 4 support events (i.e., one object placed on another) and were tested with a novel support and a novel containment event. Infants formed an abstract category of support (i.e., looked significantly longer at the novel than familiar relation) when hearing the word "on" during habituation but not when viewing the events in silence (Experiment 1) or when hearing general phrases or a novel word (Experiment 2). Results indicate that a familiar word can facilitate infants' formation of an abstract spatial category, leading them to form a category that they do not form in the absence of the word. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Action Comprehension: Deriving Spatial and Functional Relations.

A perceived action can be understood only when information about the action carried out and the objects used are taken into account. It was investigated how spatial and functional information contributes to establishing these relations. Participants observed static frames showing a hand wielding an instrument and a potential target object of the action. The 2 elements could either match or mismatch, spatially or functionally. Participants were required to judge only 1 of the 2 relations while ignoring the other. Both irrelevant spatial and functional mismatches affected judgments of the relevant relation. Moreover, the functional relation provided a context for the judgment of the spatial relation but not vice versa. The results are discussed in respect to recent accounts of action understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization of Above and Below Spatial Relations by Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella).

Using a matching-to-sample procedure, the researchers investigated tufted capuchins' (Cebus apella) ability to form categorical representations of above and below spatial relations. In Experiment 1, 5 capuchins correctly matched bar-dot stimuli on the basis of the relative above and below location of their constituent elements. The monkeys showed a positive transfer of performance both when the bar-dot distance in the two comparison stimuli differed from that of the sample and when the actual location of the matching stimulus and the nonmatching stimulus on the apparatus was modified. In Experiment 2, the researchers systematically changed the shapes of the located object (the dot) or the reference object (the horizontal bar). These manipulations did not affect the monkeys' performance. Overall, the data suggest that capuchins can form abstract, conceptual-like representations for above and below spatial relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deficient Strategic Control of Verbal Encoding and Retrieval in Individuals With Methamphetamine Dependence.

Methamphetamine (MA) dependence is associated with deficits in episodic verbal memory, but the cognitive mechanisms underlying such impairments are not known. The authors evaluated a component process model of episodic verbal memory in 87 persons with MA dependence (MA+) and 71 demographically similar non-MA-using controls (MA-). Compared with MA- controls, MA+ participants demonstrated deficient overall learning, free recall, and utilization of semantic clustering, as well as higher rates of repetitions and intrusions. No between-groups differences were evident on measures of serial clustering, retention, or recognition discrimination. Taken together, these findings indicate that MA dependence is associated with deficient strategic (i.e., executive) control of verbal encoding and retrieval, which is consistent with the sequelae of MA-related prefronto-striatal circuit neurotoxicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allocentric Spatial Memory Activation of the Hippocampal Formation Measured With fMRI.

Hippocampal activation was investigated, comparing allocentric and egocentric spatial memory. Healthy participants were immersed in a virtual reality circular arena, with pattern-rendered walls. In a viewpoint-independent task, they moved toward a pole, which was then removed. They were relocated to another position and had to move to the prior location of the pole. For viewpoint-dependent memory, the participants were not moved to a new starting point, but the patterns were rotated to prevent them from indicating the final position. Hippocampal and parahippocampal activation were found in the viewpoint-independent memory encoding phase. Viewpoint-dependent memory did not result in such activation. These results suggest differential activation of the hippocampal formation during allocentric encoding, in partial support of the spatial mapping hypothesis as applied to humans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquisition of categorical color perception: A perceptual learning approach to the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

Color perception can be categorical: Between-category discriminations are more accurate than equivalent within-category discrimination. The effects could be inherited, learned, or both. The authors provide evidence that supports the possibility of learned categorical perception (CP). Experiment 1 demonstrated that observers' color discrimination is flexible and improves through repeated practice. Experiment 2 demonstrated that category learning simulates effects of "natural" color categories on color discrimination. Experiment 3 investigated the time course of acquired CP. Experiment 4 found that CP effects are acquired through hue- and lightness-based category learning and obtained interesting data on the dimensional perception of color. The data are consistent with the possibility that language may shape color perception and suggest a plausible mechanism for the linguistic relativity hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of categorical representations for above and below spatial relations in 3- to 7-month-old infants.

A series of experiments examined the abilities of infants to form categorical representations for the spatial relations above and below. Exp 1 provided evidence that 3–4 mo olds can form categorical representations for above and below when a diamond shape was presented above or below a horizontal bar. Exps 2 and 3 showed that 3- and 4-mo olds did not form categorical representations for above and below when a number of discriminably different shapes (e.g., a diamond, a triangle, a dot) appeared above or below the bar. These more abstract categorical representations for above and below were formed by 6- to 7-mo olds (Exp 4). The findings suggest an experientially or maturationally based trend, from concrete to abstract, in the categorical representation of common spatial relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trauma Films, Information Processing, and Intrusive Memory Development.

Three experiments indexed the effect of various concurrent tasks, while watching a traumatic film, on intrusive memory development. Hypotheses were based on the dual-representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder (C. R. Brewin, T. Dalgleish, & S. Joseph, 1996). Nonclinical participants viewed a trauma film under various encoding conditions and recorded any spontaneous intrusive memories of the film over the following week in a diary. Changes in state dissociation, heart rate, and mood were also measured. As predicted, performing a visuospatial pattern tapping task at encoding significantly reduced the frequency of later intrusions, whereas a verbal distraction task increased them. Intrusive memories were largely unrelated to recall and recognition measures. Increases in dissociation and decreases in heart rate during the film were also associated with later intrusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delayed-Onset Deficits in Verbal Encoding Strategies Among Patients With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Knowledge obtained from longitudinal animal models was used to predict the course of verbal memory deficits in 19 concussed patients and 19 control patients who were given versions of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test--Revised at 2 hr, 48 hr, and 1 week postconcussion. The physiological literature suggests that concussed patients should exhibit a decline in performance from 2 hr to 48 hr postconcussion on a measure of complex memory strategies. Consistent with this hypothesis, mixed-factor analysis of covariance revealed that concussed patients used less semantic clustering strategies than control patients at 48 hr postconcussion, whereas minimal differences were found at 2 hr postinjury. Furthermore, a chi-square analysis showed that a significant number of concussed patients experienced a decline in the number of semantic clusters they used from 2 hr to 48 hr. No differences were found between the groups at the 1-week testing session. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adding Drift to the Decomposition of Simple Isochronous Tapping: An Extension of the Wing-Kristofferson Model.

The Wing-Kristofferson model (A. M. Wing & A. B. Kristofferson, (1973a, 1973b) decomposes the variance of isochronous finger tapping into 2 components: a central clock component and a peripheral motor component. The method assumes that there is no drift in the intertap intervals. A new method is introduced that further decomposes the clock component drift and drift-free clock variance. The method was studied through simulation and empirical analyses. Clock variance was the most prominent, followed by drift, and then motor variance. Individual and group differences were larger for the motor and drift variances than for the drift-free clock variance, so that group differences observed in the past may have been partially due to the failure to fully remove drift. The authors argue that the methods presented and extensions thereon show great promise in extending a method in wide use since 1973. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contribution of Organizational Strategy to Verbal Learning and Memory in Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Statistical mediation modeling was used to test the hypothesis that poor use of a semantic organizational strategy contributes to verbal learning and memory deficits in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Comparison of 28 adults with ADHD and 34 healthy controls revealed lower performance by the ADHD group on tests of verbal learning and memory, sustained attention, and use of semantic organization during encoding. Mediation modeling indicated that state anxiety, but not semantic organization, significantly contributed to the prediction of both learning and delayed recall in the ADHD group. The pattern of findings suggests that decreased verbal learning and memory in adult ADHD is due in part to situational anxiety and not to poor use of organizational strategies during encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

包钢高炉铁口炮泥的发展与进步

文章介绍了国内高炉铁口炮泥的发展现状和铁口侵蚀机理、铁口炮泥所需的原料及其生产工艺流程，同时也介绍了包钢铁口炮泥的发展历程及技术进步。     

包钢高炉铁口炮泥的发展与进步

文章介绍了国内高炉铁口炮泥的发展现状和铁口侵蚀机理、铁口炮泥所需的原料及其生产工艺流程,同时也介绍了包钢铁口炮泥的发展历程及技术进步.     

Linguistic techniques and the analysis of emotionality in interviews.

In an attempt to analyze the degree of emotionality in the manner (as opposed to the content) of speech, excerpts from 6 interviews and a recording of a radio program were analyzed with regard to linguistic (junctures, stress, pitch) and paralinguistic phenomena (e.g., characteristic of vocalizations and voice quality). The therapeutic interviews were distinguished from the radio program conversation on the basis of linguistic phenomena only. However, linguistic phenomena were seen to be independent of emotional expressions contentwise. The results were interpreted in terms of the expression of emotion through content nonlanguage vocalizations. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4IF01D. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asymmetries in Global-Local Processing Ability in Elderly People With the Apolipoprotein E-ε4 Allele.

Previous studies have identified cognitive asymmetries in elderly people at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) by comparing standardized neuropsychological tests of verbal and spatial abilities in both preclinical AD and apolipoprotein ε4+ elderly groups. This prospective study investigated cognitive asymmetries within a single test by comparing cognitively intact elderly (with and without the ε4+ allele) on a learning and memory measure that uses global and local visuospatial stimuli. Both groups demonstrated comparable overall learning and recall. But the ε4+ group had a significantly larger discrepancy between their global and local learning scores and had a greater proportion of individuals with more than a one standard deviation difference between their immediate recall of the global and local elements, relative to the ε4- group. These findings build on previous studies identifying subgroups of elderly people at greater risk for AD who often demonstrate increased cognitive asymmetries relative to groups without significant risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Hippocampal Subregions in Detecting Spatial Novelty.

Previous literature suggests that the hippocampus subserves processes associated with the encoding of novel information. To investigate the role of different subregions of the hippocampus, the authors made neurotoxic lesions in different subregions of the dorsal hippocampus (i.e., CA1, dentate gyrus [DG], or CA3) of rats, followed by tests using a spontaneous object exploration paradigm. All lesion groups explored normally an object newly introduced in a familiar location. However, when some of the familiar objects were moved to novel locations, both DG and CA3 lesion groups were severely impaired in reexploring the displaced objects, whereas the CA1 lesion group was only mildly impaired in reexploration. The results suggest that the DG-CA3 network is essential in detecting novelty for spatial, but not for individual object, information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linguistic determinism and the part of speech.

"Nouns used by young English-speaking children were more reliably the names of things and their verbs more reliably the names of actions than… the nouns and verbs used by English-speaking adults. It was shown experimentally that young English-speaking children take the part-of-speech membership of a new word as a clue to the meaning of the word. In this way, they make use of the semantic distinctiveness of the parts of speech… . Differences between languages in their parts of speech may be diagnostic of differences in the cognitive psychologies of those who use languages." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading chimpanzee faces: Evidence for the role of verbal labels in categorical perception of emotion.

Categorical perception (CP) occurs when continuously varying stimuli are perceived as belonging to discrete categories. Thereby, perceivers are more accurate at discriminating between stimuli of different categories than between stimuli within the same category (Harnad, 1987; Goldstone, 1994). The current experiments investigated whether the structural information in the face is sufficient for CP to occur. Alternatively, a perceiver's conceptual knowledge, by virtue of expertise or verbal labeling, might contribute. In two experiments, people who differed in their conceptual knowledge (in the form of expertise, Experiment 1; or verbal label learning, Experiment 2) categorized chimpanzee facial expressions. Expertise alone did not facilitate CP. Only when perceivers first explicitly learned facial expression categories with a label were they more likely to show CP. Overall, the results suggest that the structural information in the face alone is often insufficient for CP; CP is facilitated by verbal labeling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linguistic Signatures of Regulatory Focus: How Abstraction Fits Promotion More Than Prevention.

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated how strategic inclinations associated with promotion versus prevention orientations--that is, eager approach versus vigilant avoidance, respectively--affect the use of language. It is hypothesized that eager promotion strategies used to attain desired end states entail using more abstract language than used with vigilant prevention strategies. This is shown to hold for experimentally induced relationship goals (Experiment 1) and communication goals (Experiment 2). In the 3rd experiment, the authors examined the impact of abstractly and concretely worded messages upon the behavioral intentions of chronically prevention- and promotion-oriented individuals and found support for the hypothesis that behavioral intentions to engage in specific activities are stronger when there is a fit between message wording and chronic orientation than when there is no fit. The broader implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)