Acta Psychologica Sinica

An eye movement study for the guidance mechanism of long-distance regressions in Chinese reading

YANG Fan, SUI Xue, LI Yutong

2020, 52 (8): 921-932. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00921

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Regression is one of common phenomenon in normal reading. But the eye movements go against normal reading order during regressions. According to the eye moving distance during regressing, researchers divide regressions into long-distance regressions and short-distance regressions. Some studies on English suggest that long-distance regressions are guided by memory and two theories can explain the mechanisms of regression, which are the spatial coding hypothesis and the verbally based reconstruction hypothesis. Both theories have their rationality and get some studies’ supporting, but there are some arguments between them. The spatial coding hypothesis suggests that the eye movements are guided by spatial memory during regressions, but the other suggests that they are guided by verbal memory. And researchers find that initial regression is always followed by some small corrective saccades. There is also no consensus among researchers on the guiding mechanism of corrective saccades. The purpose of this study is to explore the guiding mechanism of long-distance regression in Chinese reading and to provide new evidence for the resolution of this dispute.
In order to explore the effect of memory on regressions, we recruited 20 students as participants in Experiment 1, and divided them into 2 groups: reading group and non-reading group. First, the reading group was presented with a sentence. After reading the sentence, the subjects were presented with a target word. The subjects were required to locate the target word in the sentence. The non-reading group was presented with the target word directly, and a sentence was presented before the target word. The subjects were asked to locate the target word in the sentence. The experiment was a 2×2×3 mixed experimental design. The first variable was the reading condition with 2 levels: reading and non-reading; the second variable was the word frequency with 2 levels: high-frequency words and low-frequency words; the third variable was word location with 3 levels: in the first/middle/last third of the sentence. In Experiment 2, we adopted the procedure similar to Experiment 1 for exploring the effect of text visibility on corrective saccades with another 20 students as participants. It was also a 2×2×3 mixed experimental design, and only the first variable was different. The first variable in Experiment 2 was regression visibility with 2 levels: visible and invisible. It meant that the participants in visible condition, they could see the sentence which they had read before. On the contrary, the participants in invisible condition, when they regressed the goal word, the sentence was masked by ‘※’. In both experiments, we adopted 4 indicators of regressions, including initial regression size, initial regression error, and cumulative regression size and regression reaction time.
The results in Experiment 1 indicated that initial regression error was higher in the non-reading group than in the reading group. Initial regression size was not different between the two groups, but the first regressing location of the reading group was related with prearranged word location rather than the non-reading group. Word location was significant in all indicators except initial regression size. The results in Experiment 2 indicated that initial regression error was shorter in the invisible group than in the visible group and initial regression size was higher in the invisible group than in the visible group. It was because the invisible group might use more time to read. Cumulative regression size was higher in the invisible group than in the visible group. Word location was significant with initial regression size and initial regression error. Word frequency was not significant in all two experiment conditions.
The results proved that initial regression was guided by spatial memory. Verbal attributes such as word frequency had no significant effect on regression. Corrective saccade was affected by text visibility.

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The influence of foveal processing load on parafoveal preview of fast and slow readers during Chinese reading

ZHANG Manman, ZANG Chuanli, XU Yufeng, BAI Xuejun, YAN Guoli

2020, 52 (8): 933-945. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00933

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Parafoveal pre-processing contributes to highly efficient reading for skilled readers. Research has demonstrated that high-skilled or fast readers extract more parafoveal information from a wider parafoveal region more efficiently compared to less-skilled or slow readers. It is argued that individual differences in parafoveal preview are due to high-skilled or fast readers focusing less of their attention on foveal word processing than less-skilled or slow readers. In other words, foveal processing difficulty might modulate an individual’s amount of parafoveal preview (i.e., Foveal Load Hypothesis). However, few studies have provided evidence in support of this claim. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore whether and how foveal lexical processing load modulates parafoveal preview of readers with different reading speeds (a commonly used measurement of reading skill or reading proficiency).
By using a three-minute reading comprehension task, 28 groups of fast and slow readers were selected from 300 participants (234 were valid) according to their reading speed in the current study. Participants were then asked to read sentences while their eye movements were recorded using an Eyelink 1000 eye-tracker. Each experimental sentence contained a pre-target word that varied in lexical frequency to manipulate foveal processing load (low load: high frequency; high load: low frequency), and a target word manipulated for preview (identical or pseudocharacter) within the boundary paradigm.
Global analyses showed that, although fast readers had similar accuracy of reading comprehension to slow readers, they had shorter reading times, longer forward saccades, made fewer fixations and regressions, and had higher reading speeds compared to slow readers, indicating that our selection of fast and slow readers was highly effective. The pre-target word analyses showed that there was a main effect of word frequency on first-pass reading times, indicating an effective manipulation of foveal load. Additionally, there were significant interactions of Reading Group × Word Frequency, and Reading Group × Word Frequency × Parafoveal Preview for first fixation and single fixation durations, showing that the frequency effects were reliable for fast readers rather than for slow readers with pseudocharacter previews, while the frequency effects were similar for the two groups with identical previews. However, the target word analyses did not show any three-way or two-way interactions for the first-pass reading times as well as for skipping probability. To be specific, the first-pass reading times were shorter at the target word with identical previews in relation to pseudocharacter previews (i.e., preview benefit effects); importantly, similar size effects occurred for both fast readers and slow readers.
The findings in the present study suggest that lexical information from the currently fixated word can be extracted and can be used quickly for fast readers, while such information is used later for slow readers. This, however, does not result in more (or less) preview benefit for fast readers in relation to slow readers. In conclusion, foveal lexical processing does not modulate preview benefit for fast and slow readers, and the present results provide no support for the Foveal Load Hypothesis. Our findings of foveal load effects on parafoveal preview for fast and slow readers cannot be readily explained by current computational models (e.g., E-Z Reader model and SWIFT model).

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The time course of self-relevance affecting emotional word processing

ZHANG Qi, DENG Nali, JIANG Xiumin, LI Weijun

2020, 52 (8): 946-957. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00946

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In successful social interactions, distinguishing between our own and another person’s emotions is important. Both self-relevant information (such as one’s own name) and emotional stimuli with highly social or adaptive significance can automatically capture attention, leading to prioritized and deep processing. Previous studies have confirmed that self-relevance can affect the processing of emotional words. In the current study, we used names as self-relevant clues to explore the dynamic temporal characteristics of self-relevant information affecting emotional information and its integration mechanism.
In this study, we used ERP technology and created a 3 (Name type: self, friend, unfamiliar) × 3 (Emotion type: positive, neutral, negative) within-participants design. A total of 21 college students (9 males, M_age = 20.4) participated in the experiment. Prior to the experiment, we gathered the participants’ own names and their best friends’ names, and selected a name which did not belong to a person familiar to any of the participants. All names included three characters. The experimental stimuli were 171 two-character words taken from the Chinese Affective Word System, which included 57 positive, 57 negative and 57 neutral words. All participants were asked to silently read the paired names (own name, friend-name and unfamiliar name) and emotional words (positive, neutral and negative) presented in succession, unaware that the presented words were emotional words, while their EEG was recorded.
The ERP results are shown as follows. (1) The main effect of the emotional words was significant in the early processing stage where negative words elicited larger EPN amplitudes (200-300 ms) than positive and neutral words. (2) In the late processing stage, the emotional words were further processed. The negative words elicited reduced N400 amplitudes (300-450 ms) compared to neutral words, and showed enhanced LPP amplitudes (450-650 ms) compared with neutral and positive words. (3) More importantly, a significant interaction between names and emotional words was found in the LPP time window. The negative words paired with own names elicited significantly larger LPP than neutral words paired with own names, while negative words paired with friend names elicited significantly larger LPP than positive words or neutral words paired with friend names. Nevertheless, no significant difference was found among LPP amplitudes elicited by the three kinds of emotional words paired with unfamiliar names.
Overall, our study demonstrates that there is a processing advantage for negative words in different stages, and self-relevance of a name can affect the cognitive processing of emotional words, which mainly occurs in the late stage of emotional lexical processing. Importantly, it seems that individuals first filter information according to whether it is self-relevant and then process the emotional content (especially negative stimuli) related to themselves or their friends more deeply and elaborately. The negative bias can be explained by the fact that negative stimuli are considered to carry greater informational value than positive stimuli. Therefore, negative stimuli automatically capture more attention and cognitive resources than neutral and positive stimuli, resulting in higher-order coding.

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The neural mechanism of approximate number processing for mathematical anxious individuals: An EEG study

LIU Jie, LI Jinqi, SHEN Chaoran, HU Xiaohui, ZHAO Tinghao, GUAN Qing, LUO Yuejia

2020, 52 (8): 958-970. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00958

Abstract ( 1079 )

The approximate number system (ANS) underlies the ability to approximately represent numerical magnitude or to estimate the number of a quantity without counting. ANS acuity is a reliable predictive factor of mathematical achievements and is most likely not influenced by educational or cultural factors of general cognitive processing. It is well established that individuals with mathematics anxiety (MA) perform normally in general cognitive tasks but significantly below-average in mathematical tasks such as numerical magnitude processing, computation and mathematical problem solving. Previous behavioral study reported significant negative correlations between MA level and ANS acuity but it remained unclear whether MA individuals are deficient in their ANS functioning.

The current study explored the approximate number processing in individuals with mathematics anxiety at a neural level and gathered electrophysiological evidences for ANS deficiency in MA individuals. We selected 31 individuals with high math anxiety and 29 individuals with low math anxiety who were matched for mean general intelligence, rapid visual perception ability, visual searching ability and mean general anxiety level. The participants completed a dot array task both actively and passively as their electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded. In the active dot array task, the participants were required to make judgements on the relative quantities of blue and yellow dots while the ratio of the dots were manipulated to be high or low. In the passive viewing task, the participants were required to complete an irrelevant task to ensure that proper attention was paid to the stimuli while the ratio was also manipulated.

We found that the behavioral performances of the two groups were comparable in both active and passive viewing tasks. However, event-related potential (ERP) analysis revealed that the high anxiety group had larger P2p amplitudes at the occipital electrodes than the low anxiety group in both active and passive viewing tasks. Furthermore, time-frequency analysis was performed and significant ratio effects were found in the low anxiety group in δ band (1~5 Hz) event-related synchronization (ERS) and β band (29~34 Hz) event-related desynchronization (ERD) while no ratios effects were found in the low anxiety group.

The current study provided electrophysiological evidences for ANS deficiencies in individuals with MA. The findings of this study have important theoretical implications for the causes of the impaired mathematical abilities in MA individuals as well as for effective interventions for MA.

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The association between parental meta-emotion philosophy and adolescent’s behavior problem: The moderating role of vagus

HE Xiaoli, YUAN Xiaolong, HU Ming, ZHOU Lichen

2020, 52 (8): 971-981. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00971

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Emotional and behavior problems, including anxiety, depression, withdrawal, and attack commonly occur among adolescents. The perceptiveness and attitude of parents to their children’s emotional reaction, which is defined as the parental meta-emotion philosophy (PMEP), can affect the regulation of children’s emotional and behavior problems. These influences are also distinct as the individual physiological factors. However, several questions are still understudied. Previous studies ignored the effect of father’s meta-emotional philosophy on individual behavior problems. Domestic studies paid close attention to the preschool or school-age children other than to the adolescent group. No conclusion was drawn on the relationship between parental emotional coaching and the externalizing problems of adolescents. Whether the relationship was affected by other regulatory factors needs further analysis. The role of PMEP, on the other hand, may also vary in different cultures. In the current study, we attempt to explore the relationship between the PMEP and adolescents’ behavior problems and investigate the influence of adolescents’ vagus nerve function on this relationship.
224 adolescents aged from 12 to14 recruited from a middle school of Yinchuan and their parents were selected in the current study. The MP150 (16 channels) physiological multi-channel apparatus was first used to record adolescents’ breathing and heart rate during the resting period and the mental arithmetic period. The baseline vagal tone and vagal withdrawal in task period were then calculated. Participants and their parents were asked to fill in questionnaires to measure the behavior problems of adolescents and the PMEP after the physiological measurement. The physiological data were analyzed off-line using Acqknowledge software (version-4.3), and the physiological data and questionnaire data were imported into SPSS 20.0 for statistical analysis.
Results and conclusions were as follows: (1) PMEP can predict adolescents’ behavior problems: the more emotion coaching mothers have, the less internalizing and externalizing problems adolescents have; the more emotion dysfunction mothers have, the more internalizing and externalizing problems adolescents have; the more emotion non-involvement mothers have, the more externalizing problems adolescent have. In addition, the more emotion coaching fathers have, the less internalizing problems adolescents have; the more emotion dysfunction fathers have, the more externalizing problems adolescents have. (2) PMEP in adolescents’ problem behaviors is regulated by the vagus nerve: when adolescent’s vagal tone was low, the more emotion non-involvement the mothers have, the more externalizing problems adolescents have; when adolescent’s vagal withdrawal was low, the more emotion dysfunction mothers have, the more internalizing and externalizing problems of adolescents. In addition, the more emotion dysfunction fathers have, the more externalizing problems adolescents have.
In summary, the rise of individual behavior problems is not only due to the effect of a single factor but also due to the result of the interaction between the outside and individual factors. It is suggested that we should investigate the occurrence and development of individual behavior problems from the multiple perspectives of physical, psychological, and social factors.

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The effects of episodic simulation on expected responsiveness of partner and attachment security

CAO Xiancai, WANG Dahua, WANG Yan

2020, 52 (8): 982-992. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00982

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The control-system model of attachment is the most commonly used model to characterize the function of the adult attachment system. It posits that the way for individuals to attain security is to access information on the availability and responsiveness of the attachment figure. According to previous attachment theory, when the attachment figure is absent, the information related to their availability and responsiveness is acquired by accessing the secure base script. However, the function of episodic representation is overlooked during this process. Inspired by the research on episodic simulation and attachment theory, we hypothesized that episodic simulation is an effective episodic representation that could help individuals access information on their partners’ availability and responsiveness and attain security in the attachment control system.

This study investigated whether episodic simulation could promote the expected responsiveness of a partner and attachment security through an experiment. A total of 46 young adults currently involved in a romantic relationship for more than six months were recruited as participants. All the tasks were arranged into two sessions. In session 1, the participants completed a scale related to attachment orientations, then rated six scenarios related to distressful situations that frequently occurred in close relationships from four aspects, namely distressful feeling, willingness to ask one’s partner for help, expected responsiveness of one’s partner, and state attachment security. Three days later, the participants were randomly arranged into an experimental group and a control group to complete the tasks of session 2. For each distressful situation, the participants in the experimental group needed to simulate and write down how they asked their partners for help and how they would solve the distressing problem with the help of their partners. The participants in the control group needed to write down the possible outcomes when the situation happened in a regular couple. Subsequently, all the participants rated the situation again from the four aspects used in session 1.

The results revealed no rating differences between the two groups in the pretest. In the posttest, the experimental group had higher ratings in expected responsiveness of their partners and state attachment security compared to the control group. When considering the changes from the pretest to the posttest in each rating (calculated using the scores in the posttest minus those in the pretest), we found that the promotion in expected responsiveness of partners was significantly correlated with the promotion in state attachment security. Moreover, the experimental group had higher promotions in their rating of expected responsiveness of their partners and state attachment security, as well as higher reduction in state attachment avoidance, compared to the control group. However, no group differences were observed in the rating changes related to distressful feelings, willingness to ask one’s partner for help, or state attachment anxiety. All the results were the same after controlling for attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety, which are rooted in individuals’ stable attachment script.

The results indicated that episodic simulation could function independently of the attachment script in the attachment control system. Episodic simulation could help individuals access information related to the responsiveness of their partners and attain security. This study provided a supplement for the attachment control-system model.

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The intergroup sensitivity effect and its behavioral consequences: The influence of group identification

SONG Shijie, ZUO Bin, WEN Fangfang, TAN Xiao

2020, 52 (8): 993-1003. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00993

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The intergroup sensitivity effect (ISE) shows that people have more pronounced negative emotional responses and are less likely to respond with acceptance to criticism from outgroup members than to criticism from ingroup members. Although ISE has been confirmed in a variety of group contexts (e.g., country, religion, and gender), many issues still remain to be resolved. For instance, it is still unknown how social interaction may affect the strength of ISE and what its aftereffects may be. Therefore, the first aim of the current study was to assess the applicability of ISE in an inter-group interaction context and examine the effect of intra-individual group identification on ISE. The second aim of the current study was to explore the behavioral aftereffects of ISE and its emotional-behavioral mechanism.
Experiment 1A (N = 93) repeated the test of ISE in Chinese participants who identified with a specific college group. Experiment 1B (N = 114) examined the influence of negative group evaluations from different sources (an ingroup critic versus an outgroup critic) on emotion in the context of inter-group interaction with the minimal group. In experiment 2 (N = 137) we explored the influence of negative group evaluations from different sources (an ingroup critic versus an outgroup critic) on emotion by instructing participants to read their school’s negative evaluations on college BBS, and we also assessed their group identification. Experiment 3 (N = 138) further tested group-donation behavior as an indicator of positive intragroup behavior to examine the influence of group identification and sources of negative group evaluations (an ingroup critic versus an outgroup critic) on behavioral consequences, while the negative emotions may act as important intermediates in the relationship between the interaction and positive intragroup behavior.
The results showed the following: a) We replicated and extended the basic view of ISE and found negative evaluations from outgroup members can cause more intense negative emotional responses than similar evaluations from ingroup members, even within an inter-group interaction context. b) Group identification was found to play a moderate role in ISE: for high-group identification individuals, negative evaluation from outgroup members caused stronger negative emotional responses than from ingroup members, while for those low-group identification individuals, this effect was not significant. c) Group identification performed a mediated moderating role on the influence of different sources of negative group evaluations on negative emotion response and positive intragroup behavior: under high-group-identification condition, sources of negative group evaluations had an indirect positive effect on positive intragroup behavior via emotional responses, whereas under low-group-identification condition, emotional responses did not mediate the relationship between sources of evaluation and positive intragroup behavior.
In conclusion, the current work is the first study to explore the intergroup sensitivity effect in China. We examined the influence of negative group evaluation on individual emotion and behavior and its mechanism from the perspective of group identification. This study provides a new theoretical basis and empirical support for the individual’s psychological and behavioral response in the inter-group interaction context, and has important implications for future inter-group relationship research. Future research should further explore the dynamic relationship for the change of inter-group attitude and behavior caused by negative group evaluation and the influence of interactions of situational factors and intra-individual factors on intergroup sensitivity effect.

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Effect of legacy motivation on individuals' financial risk-taking: Mediating role of future self-continuity

WANG Lin, CHEN Zengxiang, HE Yun

2020, 52 (8): 1004-1016. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.01004

Abstract ( 1110 )

Legacy motivation refers to the phenomenon that individuals want to leave a mark on this planet and be remembered by others for a long time. It is a fundamental motivation that has been widely possessed by human beings. It can have important psychological and behavioral consequences because it offers individuals an enduring meaning for self-identity and motivates them to extend themselves into the future. Previous work examined the influences of legacy motivation in the domains of intergenerational decision making and employee behaviors. However, research on how legacy motivation influences individuals' other behaviors remains in infancy. The current work takes a novel perspective and focuses on the influence of legacy motivation in the domain of financial decision making. We examine how and why legacy motivation affects individuals' risk- taking behavior and when it occurs. We propose that legacy motivation would diminish individuals' tendency to engage in risk-taking behavior. This effect is driven by future self-continuity perception and occurs among people with a high socioeconomic status (SES).

Four experiments were conducted to test our proposed hypothesis. Study 1 was designed to offer initial evidence that legacy motivation would lead to a greater perception of future self-continuity. This study employed a one factor (legacy motivation: legacy vs. control) between-subject design and manipulated legacy motivation by asking participants to write an essay on what they wanted to be remembered for by future others. In the control condition, participants were instructed to imagine and write about what life would be in 30 years. Study 2a established the main effect of legacy motivation on individuals' risk-taking tendency. Participants were presented a job recruitment advertisement featuring a high wage but low job security to measure their risk-taking tendency. They indicated their likelihood of adopting this new job. Study 2b replicated the effect of legacy motivation on risk-taking behavior and explored the underlying mechanism of future self-continuity. Risk-taking behavior was operationalized by asking participants to select one of three financial portfolio products that represent different degrees of financial risk. Study 3 investigated the moderation role of individuals' SES. A 2 (legacy motivation: legacy vs. control) × 2 (SES: continuous variable) design was employed, in which legacy motivation was manipulated, and SES was measured.

The propositions were supported by several convergent results. Study 1 provided initial evidence that activating legacy motivation would result in a higher future self-continuity perception (M_legacy = 4.25, SD = 1.50, M_control = 3.81, SD = 1.44; F(1, 182) = 4.08, p = 0.045, Cohen's d = 0.30). Study 2a documented the main effect by showing that legacy motivation weakened individuals' likelihood of engaging in financial risk taking (M_legacy = 4.22, SD = 1.84, M_control = 4.66, SD = 1.72; F(1, 259) = 4.09, p = 0.044, Cohen's d = 0.25) and ruled out several alternative interpretations such as self-esteem, mood, and impression management. Study 2b confirmed the mediation role of future self-continuity in driving legacy motivation's effect on financial risk taking (b = 0.12, SE = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.03~0.26). Study 3 investigated the moderating role of participants' SES. We found that the legacy effect on financial risk taking as a function of future self-continuity only existed in participants with a relatively high SES (b = 0.19, SE = 0.08, 95% CI = 0.05~0.37) and disappeared with a relatively low SES (b = 0.03, SE = 0.05, 95% CI = -0.04~0.15).

This study contributes to the literature on legacy motivation, future self-continuity, and financial risk-taking behavior. It extends the research on legacy motivation by documenting an important behavioral consequence in the domain of individual financial decision making. It also provides a new antecedent for future self-continuity and financial risk-taking behavior.

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