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Section of Engineering Psychology
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Effect of auditory stimulus on distance compression in virtual reality HU Xiaofei, WANG Jiawei, LIU Hanyu, SONG Xiaolei 2023, 55 (1):  1-8.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00001 Abstract ( 392 )   HTML ( 57 )   PDF (326KB) ( 187 )   Distance compression in virtual reality (VR), which will lead to a distortion of fine manipulation in practical application, depicts that people tend to underestimate the spatial distance of visual stimuli in virtual environments. The apparent perceived differences between virtual and real environments break the immersive experiences and lower users' acceptance. Therefore, it is crucial to ameliorate the distance compression to increase the fidelity and ultimately promote the wider application of VR. Capitalizing on the fact that distance compression is a multiple modality phenomenon and occurs for auditory and visual stimuli, researchers reported that the distance judgment in VR would get more accurate when the positions of auditory and visual stimuli were incongruent. However, it is unclear to what extent the incongruency is to get effective amelioration. In this study, we aimed to completely examine the effect of the auditory stimulus on distance compression in VR. We presumed that the larger the incongruency was, the better amelioration obtained. We used the HTC Vive Pro to render the virtual environment and the build-in headphone to present auditory stimulus. A total of 30 participants were recruited to perform a distance judgment task. In Experiment 1, we first controlled the presence or absence of the auditory stimulus. We also varied the egocentric distance of visual stimulus (3 m, 4 m, 5 m). Then, in Experiment 2, we controlled the incongruency of the audio-visual condition, that is, the exocentric distance between auditory and visual stimuli (0.5 m, 1 m, 1.5 m, 2 m). Each block consisted of 30 consecutive trials, wherein the reference visual stimulus was presented at the beginning 5 s. Participants were asked to judge whether the following adjust stimulus was nearer or farther than the reference stimulus. The egocentric distance would be adjusted according to the response of the prior trial. The egocentric distance of the adjust stimulus in the last trial was referred to as the ultimate distance judgment for the initial reference stimulus. For Experiment 1, we performed a two-way repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the distance compression rate, which was calculated by subtracting the perceived egocentric distance from the physical egocentric distance and then dividing it by the physical egocentric distance. The within-subject factors included the egocentric distance of reference stimulus (3 m, 4 m, and 5 m) and the presence of the auditory stimulus (audio-visual condition and visual-only condition). The result of Experiment 1 is shown in Figure 1. We found that the distance compression rate under the audio-visual condition was marginal significantly smaller than that under the visual-only condition, F(1,29) = 4.05, p = 0.054, ηp2 = 0.12. In contrast, the main effect for the egocentric distance of reference stimulus and the interaction were not significant (p > 0.05). Then, we performed a paired one-sided t-test to compare the distance compression rates for audio-visual and visual-only conditions at different levels of the egocentric distance of reference stimulus. We found that the distance compression rate for the audio-visual condition was smaller than that for the visual-only condition at egocentric distances of 4 m (difference = 1.8%, t = −1.587, p = 0.062) and 5 m (difference = 1.6%, t = −1.85, p = 0.037), but not at an egocentric distance of 3 m (p = 0.307). For Experiment 2, we performed a two-way repeated ANOVA on the distance compression rate. Since the same participants were recruited for Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, the results of the audio-visual condition in Experiment 1, that is, an exocentric distance of 0 m, were included in the current analysis. The within-subject factors included the egocentric distance of reference stimulus (3 m, 4 m, and 5 m) and the exocentric distance between auditory and visual stimuli (0 m, 0.5 m, 1 m, 1.5 m, and 2 m). The result of the distance compression rate is shown in Figure 2. We found that the main effect for the exocentric distance between auditory and visual stimuli was significant, F(4,116) = 8.29, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.22. In contrast, the main effects for the egocentric distance of reference stimulus and the interaction were not significant (p > 0.05). Then, a Tukey multiple comparison test was performed after pooling the results of the three egocentric distances of the reference stimulus. We found that the distance compression rate decreased with the increment of the exocentric distance. Furthermore, it could reach a marginally significant or significant difference when comparing any two exocentric distances at least 1 m apart. Finally, we fitted a linear curve for the relationship between the exocentric distance between auditory and visual stimuli and the distance compression rate: distance compression rate = −0.024 × exocentric distance + 0.056. The slope was significant (p = 0.008), indicating the distance compression rate was negatively correlated with the exocentric distance and could be ameliorated at a pace of 2.4% for every 1 m. The adjusted R2 was 90.7%. We reported the effect of auditory stimulus on the distance compression in VR. Based on our results, we highly recommended presenting the auditory and visual stimuli simultaneously in the time domain and a minimum of 1 m apart in the space domain to ameliorate the distance compression in VR. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The different characteristics of human performance in selecting receding and approaching targets by rotating the head in a 3D virtual environment DENG Chenglong, GENG Peng, KUAI Shuguang 2023, 55 (1):  9-21.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00009 Abstract ( 279 )   HTML ( 10 )   PDF (658KB) ( 120 )   In virtual reality (VR), rotating the head to select a moving target is common. A moving target involves two general directions, that is movement toward or away from a user; thus, knowing the characteristics difference between selecting the approaching target (interception movement) and receding target (pursuit movement) is important for designing an efficient user interface. In this study, 17 participants (7 males; mean age = 22.5 ± 2.5 years) were given an Oculus Rift helmet-mounted display to wear and instructed to complete a task in a VR environment. They were required to position a small opaque sphere (cursor) that appeared randomly on the left or right side of the visual field into a larger half-transparent moving sphere (target) on the other side of the visual field quickly and accurately by rotating their head. The target moved randomly toward or away from the cursor horizontally, which were both at the participants’ eye height, with a depth of 3 meters. The diameter of the cursor was fixed at 4°. The initial movement amplitude (A; distance between the center of the cursor and target; 20° and 40°), the target tolerance (TT; size difference between the target and cursor; 4°, 6°, and 8°), and the target’s moving velocity (V; 0.5 m/s, 1 m/s, 1.5 m/s, and 2 m/s) were varied (Figure 1). The cursor movement paths were divided into three phases for analysis: acceleration, deceleration, and correction (Figure 2). Results showed that the average total movement time (MT) of selecting receding targets was significantly larger than that of selecting approaching targets (F(1, 16) = 99.64, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.86) and the two movements performed differently under different factors (Figure 3). A and TT had a similar influence on the total MT for both movements, which increased as A increased (Pursuit: F(1, 16) = 135.61, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.89; Interception: F(1, 16) = 132.47, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.89) and TT decreased (Pursuit: F(1.09, 17.40) = 91.91, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.85, Greenhouse-Geisser correction; Interception: F(1.03, 16.54) = 40.24, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.72, Greenhouse-Geisser correction). In contrast, V had an inverse effect on the total MT for the two movements. A large V leaded to a long total MT for the pursuit movement (F(1.38, 22.11) = 48.49, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.75, Greenhouse-Geisser correction), whereas the total MT for the interception movement decreased as V increased (F(1.16, 18.59) = 12.43, p = 0.002, η2p = 0.44, Greenhouse-Geisser correction). Moreover, the interception movement showed a light U-shaped relationship between the total MT and V, with the lowest point at 1.5 m/s when A was 20° (Figure 3c). The two movements were further compared in the three phases (Figure 4). The outcome showed that the MT of pursuit movement was only longer in the acceleration phase (F(1, 16) =162.32, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.91) and deceleration phase (F(1, 16) =119.31, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.88) compared with the interception movement, while the MTs of two movements were very close in the correction phase (F(1, 16) = 0.001, p = 0.974). Moreover, the three factors had different impact on the two movements in three phases. In the acceleration phase, MT increased for the pursuit movement but decreased for the interception movement as A decreased (Pursuit: F(1, 16) = 50.26, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.76; Interception: F(1, 16) = 90.03, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.85) and V increased (Pursuit: F(1, 16) = 50.26, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.76; Interception: F(1, 16) = 90.03, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.85). In the deceleration phase, although MT was positively related to A (Pursuit: F(1, 16) = 128.83, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.89; Interception: F(1, 16) = 309.80, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.95) and negatively related to V (Pursuit: F(1.73, 27.66) = 11.28, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.41, Greenhouse-Geisser correction; Interception: F(1.76, 28.20) = 195.38, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.92, Greenhouse-Geisser correction) for both movements, the MT of interception movement increased more quicky as A increased (F(1, 16) = 38.03, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.70) and decreased more quickly as V increased (F(1.95, 31.11) = 67.77, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.81) as compared to the pursuit movement. In the correction phase, the TT had a same impact on the MT for both movements (F(1.32, 21.18) = 0.20, p = 0.728, Greenhouse-Geisser correction), which decreased with an increase of TT (F(1.08, 17.25) = 55.46, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.78, Greenhouse-Geisser correction). Moreover, the increasing V (F(1.30, 20.73) = 25.32, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.61, Greenhouse-Geisser correction) and A (F(1, 16) =129.81, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.89) increased the MT for the pursuit movement, while the MT of the interception movement was not affected by both V and A. Based on the findings, a model was proposed to depict the relationship between the total MT and the three factors, which fit the participants’ performance well (Figure 5). This study showed that the pursuit and interception movements had different characteristics. Selecting a receding target was more difficult than selecting an approaching target via head rotation, and A and V, but not TT, had a different impact on human performance for the two movements. The empirical findings suggested the importance of considering both movements separately when designing a user interface. The model provides a valid method for quantitatively evaluating the characteristics of human performance in selecting moving targets. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of interruption on work performance and the moderating effects of mental fatigue CHEN Yueyuan, FANG Weining, GUO Beiyuan, BAO Haifeng 2023, 55 (1):  22-35.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00022 Abstract ( 352 )   HTML ( 27 )   PDF (4590KB) ( 764 )   Task interruptions have an impact on performance after interruption. Exploring the cognitive mechanism of interruption's impact on performance under different fatigue conditions will help improve and develop the cognitive theory of interruption. In this study, combining behavioral data and ERPs results, we analyzed the effect of task interruption on performance and the moderating effect of mental fatigue by performing spatial 2-back tasks with interruption, suspension, and non-interruption under different mental fatigue conditions. The results showed that the amplitudes of P200 and P300 induced by interruption were significantly increased, the attention resources were decreased by interruption, and the irrelevant information of task interruption interfered with the working memory of the primary task. Moreover, the fatigue state further aggravated the negative effects of interruption on attention resources, working memory, and behavior performance. This study reveals the cognitive process of interruption and the mechanism underlying the influence of fatigue on interruption, and supports the memory for goals model. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effect of predictability of emotional valence on temporal binding HUANG Xinjie, ZHANG Chi, WAN Huagen, ZHANG Lingcong 2023, 55 (1):  36-44.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00036 Abstract ( 261 )   HTML ( 23 )   PDF (358KB) ( 179 )   The sense of agency refers to the experience of “I am the initiator of actions, controlling the external world”. Temporal binding, which is related to the sense of agency, refers to the subjective compression of the perceived time interval between voluntary action and its action outcome. Previous studies have explored the effect of emotional valence on temporal binding by setting the predictability of emotional valence as the control variable. However, the effect of the predictability of emotional valence on temporal binding remains unknown. This study explored the effect of the predictability of emotional valence of action outcomes on temporal binding, based on the hypothesis that temporal binding is stronger when emotional valence is more predictable. This study used Libet’s clock paradigm to investigate the effect of the predictability of emotional valence of action outcomes on temporal binding (see Figure 1). A 2 (predictability of emotional valence, within: predictable vs. unpredictable) × 2 (stimulus modality, between: auditory vs. visual) mixed design was employed. A total of 60 participants were randomly assigned to one of two between-subject conditions, resulting in 30 in the auditory group and 30 in the visual group. There were two main phases of the study. During the baseline phase, the participants in the two groups were asked to either press the key at a freely chosen point from 2,560 ms to 5,120 ms or perceive the auditory/visual stimulus randomly from 2,560 ms to 5,120 ms after the trial start. Next, they were asked to estimate the position of the clock hand at the onset of either the key-press or the stimulus. During the operant phase, participants were also asked to press the key at a freely chosen point from 2,560 ms to 5,120 ms. The key-press would cause the auditory/visual emotional outcome (negative, neutral or positive) following a delay duration of 250 ms. Next, they were asked to estimate the position of the clock hand at the onset of either the key-press or the emotional outcome. When the emotional valence was predictable, there would be a fixed emotional outcome to the key-press (negative, neutral or positive) in 80% of trials and the other remaining emotional outcome in 20% of trials. When the emotional valence was unpredictable, the key-press would result in one of the three emotional outcomes (see Figure 2). The results showed that temporal binding was enhanced when the emotional valence was predictable. Furthermore, when emotional valence was predictable, the outcome binding was stronger in both the auditory and visual groups, (-46.28 ms vs. -33.59 ms), F(1, 58) = 4.17, p = 0.046, ηp2 = 0.07, whereas the action binding was stronger only in the visual group (28.01 ms vs. 16.02 ms), p= 0.049, Cohen’s d= 0.33 (see Figure 3). In conclusion, the predictability of emotional valence is an important factor affecting temporal binding. The predictability of emotional valence can enhance outcome binding in both auditory and visual modalities, but can only enhance action binding in the visual modality. This may be due to the difference between action and outcome binding mechanisms or between the timing systems of auditory and visual stimuli. These results have an important implication for the interactive design of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) since temporal binding is the main index of the sense of agency. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The relationship between acute stress and risk taking: The moderating effect of ease of excitation WANG Peishan, GU Ruolei, ZHANG Liang 2023, 55 (1):  45-54.  doi: 10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2022.03.018 Abstract ( 407 )   HTML ( 11 )   PDF (192KB) ( 141 )   In high-risk and even routine factory work, operators will inevitably encounter stressful events such as time pressure, high workload or emergencies. Numerous psychological and post-accident analyses showed that decision-making error under stress is one of the most common causes of industrial accidents. Previous studies have found that individual factors play an essential role in how we feel and react to stress, moderating stress response and then affecting subsequent decision-making. However, as one of these factors which is closely associated with stress and decision-making, ease of excitation has rarely been explored. Therefore, we conducted the present study to investigate the influencing mechanism of stress on risky decision-making and the moderating effect of ease of excitation. We supposed that stress level (indexed by salivary cortisol and heart rate) was positively correlated with risk-taking behavior, and ease of excitation played a moderating role in this relationship. Forty-three male participants were recruited for the study. We adopted the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce acute psychological stress and collected participants’ salivary cortisol, heart rate and subjective emotional states during the experiment to evaluate their stress responses. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) was applied to measure their risk-taking behavior under stress. The mean adjusted number of pumps across trials was taken as the primary behavioral index. We used the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (SPS) to evaluate ease of excitation before the stress task. As shown in Figure 1, salivary cortisol, heart rate and negative mood all increased significantly from baseline after the stress task and gradually returned to baseline, which confirmed that the stress manipulation was efficient. Correlation analysis showed that cortisol response positively correlated with the mean adjusted number of pumps at a marginal significance level (r = 0.31, p = 0.06, 95% CI: [-0.06, 0.56]), while heart rate was unrelated to it (see Table 1). Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression found that ease of excitation moderated the relationship between the salivary cortisol level and the mean adjusted number of pumps (B = 0.04, β = 0.39, p = 0.03, 95% CI: [0.01, 0.07]) (Table 2). To interpret the significant moderating effects of ease of excitation, we conducted a simple slope test. Figure 2 clearly shows that when ease of excitation was one standard deviation below the mean value, the salivary cortisol level could not significantly predict the mean adjusted number of pumps (β = -0.18, p = 0.49, 95% CI: [-0.50, 0.24]). However, when ease of excitation was one standard deviation above the mean value, the salivary cortisol level positively predicts the number of pumping times (β = 0.86, p = 0.01, 95% CI: [0.20, 1.03]). The more salivary cortisol increased, the more pumps did participants decide. However, ease of excitation did not moderate the relationship between the heart rate and the mean adjusted number of pumps (B = 0.06, β = 1.06, p = 0.68, 95% CI: [-0.23, 0.35]). Altogether, the present study demonstrates that the increased cortisol level under stress positively associates with risk-taking behavior, and ease of excitation moderates the relationship. For individuals with a high level of ease of excitation, the more cortisol they increase, the riskier they are. It may owe to their hyper-sensitivity to internal and external stimuli. The high ease of excitation could be easier to be aroused by the surge of cortisol level and mistake it as the somatic marker to guide decision-making. It highlights the importance of individual differences in understanding stress-related decision-making error and their underlying mechanisms, which further provides scientific implications for selecting and training operators in high-pressure positions. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The psychological structure and influence of interactive naturalness CAO Jianqin, ZHANG Jingyu, ZHANG Liang, WANG Xiaoyu 2023, 55 (1):  55-65.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00055 Abstract ( 211 )   HTML ( 9 )   PDF (151KB) ( 140 )   This paper investigated the structure and function of interactive naturalness through three studies. In measuring interactive experience, the traditional usability standard is not enough to measure the usability and naturality of product interaction. The possible reason is that natural interaction is no longer limited to the product's features but is more concerned with the human experience (the perceived naturalness) or natural experience. A direct, reliable measurement tool is urgently needed to evaluate the natural experience. Most studies used traditional usability dimensions such as visibility and ease of use to simply measure naturalness. But if naturalness simply equals usability, then many traits beyond product usability cannot be measured. Some studies directly measured naturalness with a single item or synonyms of naturalness, but the reliability of these measurements is not enough. This paper aimed to develop and verify a conceptually solid and quantitatively validated scale to measure the naturalness of interaction. In Study 1, a comprehensive item set related to the concept of natural interaction was established by using qualitative methods including dictionary retrieval, literature review, and expert interviews. In Study 2, participants (n = 353) were recruited to evaluate the experience of different intelligent connected vehicles. In addition to the interactive naturalness scale, several key consumer behaviors and traditional usability criteria, including drive intention, satisfaction, and usability, were also collected. In Study 3, new samples (n = 349) and more criterion-related variables (two key consumption behaviors were added, namely perceived loyalty and recommendation intention) were used to further verify the validity and reliability of the developed measurement tool. We used SPSS 25.0 and Jamovi 1.2.27 to analyze the data. According to Study 1, the naturalness of the interactive experience scale of 9 items was developed based on the qualitative research. In Study 2, the exploratory factor analysis found that the two-dimensional model (six items for joyful fluency and three items for universal awareness) best suited the data (Table 1). Confirmatory factor analysis verified the stability of the two-factor model (χ2= 35.3, df = 27, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.03, SRMR = 0.04, AIC = 7151, BIC = 7253). Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis suggested that these two components had good criterion-related validity and joyful fluency played a crucial role in predicting satisfaction and drive intention. In Study 3, a new sample (n = 349) was used to validate the validity of the scale further. And the validity of the scale was further verified in Study 3. The criterion-related variables used in Study 2 also obtained the same correlation (p< 0.01) and regression results in Study 3 (Table 2). Two factors of interactive naturalness had a significant predictive effect on the newly included variables, namely recommendation intention and perceived loyalty. In addition, joyful fluency was more related to basic vehicle functions, while universal awareness was more related to advanced intelligent interaction functions. This study explored the structure and function of interactive naturalness. A psychometrically sound tool was obtained to measure the interactive naturalness experience of intelligent products in two dimensions: joyful fluency and universal awareness. We found that interactive naturalness is strongly linked to key experiential and post-purchase dimensions and has an additional contribution to predicting these variables that traditional usability dimensions cannot include. This finding was also supported by the difference of correlation between two factors in different vehicle functions. These results indicate that the scale developed in this study can measure the natural interaction experience of intelligent products reliably and effectively. This tool can be used in future human-computer interaction research and guidance for interface and product design. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of anxiety on weight perception CHEN Xuyan, LI Peng, YAN Zhiying 2023, 55 (1):  66-78.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00066 Abstract ( 345 )   HTML ( 30 )   PDF (177KB) ( 224 )   The economy of action argues that individuals’ perceptions of the physical environment are related to the resources they possess. Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often associated with threat or risk, that can be viewed as a manifestation of inadequate coping resources. Therefore, anxiety may affect individuals’ perceptions of the physical environment around them. Previous studies have shown that exercise influence perceptual judgments mostly based on vision-based perceptual indicators, and rarely involved stress anxiety and trait anxiety that are more common in the field of life. However, this study employed weight-based perception indicators rather than vision-based indicators to investigate the effects of two kinds of state anxiety in daily life with different mechanisms and the more stable trait anxiety on the perception of object weight, and proposed the following research hypothesis: individuals perceived objects as heavier in state or trait anxiety. In the present work, we conducted three studies to systematically investigate the effects of three types of anxiety with different attributes on the perception of weight: body posture-induced anxiety (Experiment 1), external task-induced anxiety (Experiment 2), and trait anxiety, which is stable at the personality level (Experiment 3). Participants in both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were asked to report their anxiety before and after the experimental task was manipulated and to judge the weight of the backpack they carried. In Experiment 1, 64 participants were randomly assigned to the anxious body posture group (n = 32) and the relaxed body posture group (n = 32) by being asked to do different body postures. In Experiment 2, 65 participants were randomly assigned to either the mental arithmetic task group (n =33) or the odd-even task group (n = 32). In Experiment 3, based on the scores of the Trait Anxiety Inventory (T-AI) Scale, high and low scorers were selected to constitute a high-level trait anxiety group (n = 64) and a low-level trait anxiety group (n = 64), and were asked to perceive the post-test weight of the three backpacks. The results of three experiments showed that the influence of anxiety on weight perception. In Experiment 1, we found that the anxious body posture induced anxiety. A 2 (group: anxious body posture group vs. relaxed body posture group) × 2 (order: before vs. after) mixed ANOVA was adopted and results showed that main effect of group was not significant, F(1, 62) = 1.84, p= 0.180, the main effect of order was significant, F(1, 62) = 21.27, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.26, 90% CI = [0.11, 0.39]. There’s a significant interaction between group and order, F(1, 62) = 10.89, p= 0.002, η2p = 0.15, 90% CI = [0.04, 0.28], participants in the anxious body posture group perceived the weight of the object as heavier than those in the relaxed body posture group (see Figure 1). The results of Experiment 2 revealed that the stressful mental arithmetic task induced anxiety. A 2 (group: mental arithmetic task group vs. odd-even judgment task group) × 2 (order: before vs. after) mixed ANOVA revealed that main effect of group was not significant, F(1, 63) = 2.49, p= 0.119, the main effect of order was significant, F(1, 63) = 21.17, p< 0.001, η2p = 0.25, 90% CI = [0.11, 0.38]. There’s a significant interaction between group and order, F(1, 63) = 7.36, p= 0.009, η2p = 0.11, 90% CI = [0.02, 0.23]. As illustrated in Figure 2, participants in the mental arithmetic task group perceived the weight of the object as heavier than those in the odd-even judgment task group. The results of Experiment 3 indicated that participants in the high-level trait anxiety group (M = 6.39, SD = 3.88) perceived the weight of the object as heavier than those in the low-level trait anxiety group (M = 4.63, SD = 1.93), t(126) = -3.25, p = 0.002, Cohen's d= 0.58, 95% CI = [0.69, 2.84] (see Figure 3). The results of the three experiments suggest that either the state anxiety induced by physical changes or cognitive evaluations, or the more stable trait anxiety at the personality level, affects individuals’ perceptions of physical properties of objects, leading them to perceive objects as heavier. This study extends the indicator of perception from the visual to the weight domain at the theoretical level, validates and extends the economy of action theory again; the revealed features of weight perception of anxious individuals provide a new physical perspective for anxiety intervention, and such findings can be applied to the design of human-computer interfaces in the future, which is of great practical significance. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effect of lexical predictability on word processing in fast and slow readers during Chinese reading ZHANG Manman, HU Huilan, ZHANG Zhichao, LI Xin, WANG Qiang, BAI Xuejun, ZANG Chuanli 2023, 55 (1):  79-93.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00079 Abstract ( 212 )   HTML ( 17 )   PDF (578KB) ( 123 )   According to the lexical quality hypothesis, high proficient (fast) readers have well-specified lexical representations which enable automatic word identification and less context decoding, while low proficient (slow) readers rely on context for word identification during reading due to their imprecise lexical quality. In contrast, the predictive coding framework assumes that high proficient readers rely more on their reading experience to predict the upcoming context compared to low proficient readers. However, it is still unclear how skilled readers with different levels of reading proficiency rely on context information (e.g., predictability) for word processing during Chinese reading. In two experiments, the present study aimed to investigate individual differences in the use of predictability for word identification by using the eye-tracking technique. In Experiment 1, eye movements of fast and slow readers were recorded while they were reading sentences containing predictable or unpredictable target words, with the aim to investigate the differences in predictability effects between the two groups. Sixty pairs of predictable-unpredictable target words were selected, each of which was embedded into the same sentence frame. Fifteen fast and 15 slow readers, selected from a group of 66 participants based on their reading rates, participated in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, parafoveal previews of the 60 predictable target words (identical word, visually similar pseudocharacter, unpredictable word or visually dissimilar pseudocharacter) were manipulated by using the boundary paradigm to explore how parafoveal preview influences processing of predictability information in the fast and slow readers. The eye movements of 20 fast and 20 slow readers, selected from a group of 80 participants on the basis of their reading rates, were recorded while they were reading sentences containing predictable target words with different previews in Experiment 2. The results showed that fast readers fixated shorter and less on the target words and were more likely to skip the target words than slow readers. In Experiment 1, although reliable predictability effects with shorter fixations for predictable than unpredictable words were found, it did not interact with reading groups (see Table 1). However, results in Experiment 2 showed robust parafoveal preview effects on the target word which interacted with reading groups (see Table 2). In particular, the two groups had the same first-pass fixation times (i.e., FFD, SFD, GD) at the target words under the identical previews, while slow readers made longer fixations than fast readers at the targets with unpredictable previews (slow readers: ts > 4.10, ps < 0.001; fast readers: for FFD and SFD, |t|s < 1.67, ps > 0.05; for GD, b = 0.06, SE = 0.02, t = 2.39, p = 0.017) or unrelated previews (slow readers: ts > 8.87, ps < 0.001; fast readers: ts > 5.16, ps < 0.001). In addition, fast readers skipped target words at a similar probability under both the identical preview and unpredictable preview conditions (b = 0.03, SE = 0.02, z = 1.70, p = 0.088), while slow readers were less likely to skip target words with unpredictable previews than identical previews (b = −0.04, SE = 0.02, z = −2.23, p = 0.025). The current findings indicate that fast and slow readers rely on context to a similar degree during their foveal lexical processing whereas the two groups show different utilization of previews of the predictable word during their parafoveal processing. To be specific, compared to fast readers, slow readers are inefficient in activating the predictable word with a visually similar preview; moreover, slow readers are disturbed more by the unpredictable preview or the visually dissimilar preview for their lexical processing, which suggests that slow readers are less effective in suppressing unrelated or inappropriate information during reading. Such findings provide evidence for the lexical quality hypothesis and are in support of the linguistic-pro?ciency hypothesis related to individual differences in the E-Z reader model. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of aging on the unmasking effect of F0 contour cue in Chinese speech recognition WU Meihong 2023, 55 (1):  94-105.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00094 Abstract ( 94 )   HTML ( 4 )   PDF (251KB) ( 64 )   Older adults encounter difficulty in recognizing speech in environments where multiple people are talking. Fundamental frequency (F0) contour is very important for speech recognition in daily communication and can serve as a perceptual cue to segregate speech from background noise. The effect of dynamic F0 contour cues on the speech recognition of younger adults in noisy environments has been widely studied, but the influence on older adults’ speech recognition, especially in tonal languages like Chinese, is still unclear. The present study explores whether older adults can benefit from dynamic F0 contour cues for Chinese speech recognition under the masking of speech with 12 elderly participants (6 female and 6 male, mean age 68.6 years) and 12 young participants (7 male and 5 female, aged 18~25 years old) possessing normal peripheral hearing. Figure 1 presents the group mean of the hearing thresholds as a function of frequency. As shown in Figure 1, all the participants had symmetrical hearing. The speech recognition threshold for natural F0 contour sentences and the corresponding sentences with F0 contour manipulations (flattened vs. exaggerated) under two-speaker anomalous speech masking for younger adults and older adults were measured. Participants were asked to loudly repeat the entire target sentence as best as they could immediately after all the stimuli ended in each trail. Figure 2 illustrates group-mean percent-correct word identification as a function of signal-to-noise ratio level along with the group-mean best-fitting psychometric functions curves. Data for speech recognition threshold were obtained and these data were analyzed using Linear Mixed-Effects modeling. The results showed that, for the younger group, the main effect of F0 contour type was significant, F(2, 22) = 6.87, p = 0.005, but for the older group, the main effect of F0 contour type was not significant, F(2, 22) = 0.50, p = 0.614. Furthermore, data analysis revealed that, for the younger group, speech recognition performance was significantly poorer in all the manipulated F0 contour conditions as compared to the natural F0 contour condition (flatten: β = 2.92, SE = 0.88, t = 3.33, p = 0.003; exaggerated: β = 2.70, SE = 0.88, t = 3.08, p = 0.005). However, for the older group, data analysis showed that speech recognition performance under all the manipulated F0 contour conditions was not significantly different from that under the natural F0 contour condition (flatten: β = 0.34, SE = 0.34, t = 0.99, p = 0.33; exaggerated: β = 0.16, SE = 0.34, t = 0.48, p = 0.637). Data from the younger group demonstrated a pattern that was different from the older group data in terms of the effects of dynamic F0 contour cues. The results showed that, under masking with two speakers, the natural dynamic F0 contour cues assist young adults to resist information masking more than a flattened or exaggerated F0 contour, but for the older adults, the speech intelligibility of the target sentences with a natural F0 contour was as poor as that of target sentences with flattened or exaggerated F0 contour. The availability of F0 contour cues seriously affects the benefits of dynamic F0 contour cues for older adults’ speech recognition against speech masking. There also appears to be an age-related reduction of the benefit from dynamic F0 contour cues in masked speech recognition, so the F0 contour of Chinese sentences may contribute more to speech recognition under speech masking for younger adults than for older adults. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Aging effect on episodic memory updating: Retrograde interference in competitive memory retrieval LI Yan, CHENG Jing-Xuan, YU Jing 2023, 55 (1):  106-116.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00106 Abstract ( 159 )   HTML ( 8 )   PDF (304KB) ( 124 )   Updating outdated memories with newly acquired information is an important ability. To ensure less interference from outdated memories, one either trims old memory traces or differentiates between novel and old memories. Although the age-related decline in episodic memory has been well-established, aging effect on episodic memory updating and its underlying cognitive mechanisms are less understood. Memory differentiation and memory interference may act as two different mechanisms that underlie episodic memory updating. To bridge this research gap, we investigated the different updating memory patterns in young and older adults. Furthermore, we intended to clarify the updating differences in item and source memory, which are the two essential elements embedded in episodic memory. By implementing an adapted AB-AC memory updating paradigm, we posited that young adults would comparably attain A-B and A-C memory. In contrast, older adults would experience C memory intrusions in the A-B memory test, indicating memory interference. We examined episodic memory updating for a sample of 30 young and 30 older adults randomly selected from the university and neighboring community. On Day 1, participants learned 36 naturalistic A-B pairings and completed the encoding test immediately after learning. On Day 2, participants first reviewed the A-B pairs before being introduced to 36 novel A-C pairings (where C’s items or sources were different from those in B), following which they completed the Day 2 encoding test. Finally, all the participants returned to the laboratory and completed the A-B and A-C tests on Days 3 and 5. To elucidate the updating memory patterns between the two age groups, we classified their responses into target, competitor, and lure categories to test the group-level differences in memory updating. We ran a 2 (age: young adults and older adults) × 2 (association: A-B and A-C) × 3 (category: target, competitor, and lure) × 2 (time: Days 3 and 5) repeated analysis of variance to examine the different memory updating pattern between the two age groups. Expectedly, there were significant age × category and age × association × category interaction effects in both item and source memory tasks (Table 1). More precisely, young adults performed comparatively well in A-B and A-C memory tests (Item memory: t(57) = −1.98, p = 0.053; Source memory: t(57) = −0.24, p = 0.812) and showed no significant memory intrusions (Item memory: t(57) = −0.31, p = 0.756; Source memory: t(57) = −0.735, p = 0.465) and distortions (Item memory: t(57) = 4.24, p < 0.001; Source memory: t(57) = 2.05, p = 0.045). In comparison, older adults performed better in the A-C memory test than in the A-B memory test (Item memory: t(57) = −6.75, p < 0.001; Source memory: t(57)= −3.88, p < 0.001) and showed B intrusions in the A-C memory test (Item memory: t(57) = 5.65, p < 0.001; Source memory: t(57) = 4.55, p < 0.001) but no C intrusion in the A-B test (Item memory: t(57) = −0.31, p = 0.756; Source memory: t(57) = −0.88, p = 0.382). We found that young adults could strengthen their novel memories without inhibiting outdated ones and simultaneously maintained A-B and A-C memory traces. However, older adults updated their memories by overwriting their previously-stored A-B memory traces. The findings illuminate episodic memory updating and its underlying cognitive mechanisms, whereby young adults update memories via differentiating old with new memory traces. However, older adults inhibit previous memory traces when confronted with two pieces of competing information. Notably, separate mechanisms apply to item and source memories and show a long-term effect. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of rule variant reasoning in far transfer problem solving ZHANG Qi, ZHANG Qingxiang, ZHANG Xiaoxiao, GAO Chao 2023, 55 (1):  117-128.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00117 Abstract ( 116 )   HTML ( 5 )   PDF (300KB) ( 75 )   Introduction Previous experimental results have shown that worked-example learning can promote the solution of near, but not far, transfer problems. However, according to Sweller, in order to promote the solution of the far transfer problem, it was necessary to learn a series of worked-examples of variant problems solutions. Furthermore, they must try to solve problems requiring variant rules. Thus, they will be assigned a large number of homework exercises. To avoid this, we developed a rule worked-example learning method to promote far transfer problem solving, in which students applied rules variant reasoning after prototype worked-example learning. We carried out four experiments to test the effectiveness of this method. Experiment 1 162 fourth-grade students were selected as participants. They were randomly divided into three groups. After learning the prototype worked-examples, the first group learned worked-examples of the four variant problem solutions. The second group applied rule variant reasoning to four problems presented to them. The third group solved four near transfer problems. Then, participants in all groups were evaluated by transfer tests. The results showed that the far transfer scores of the first group were significantly better than those of the second group (p < 0.001, 95% CI = [0.57, 1.76]) and the third group (p < 0.001, 95% CI = [2.20, 3.09]), and that the second group’s scores were significantly better than those of the third group (p < 0.001, 95% CI = [0.95, 2.02]) (see Figure 1). Experiment 2 54 mathematics high-performing students, 54 mathematics middle-performing students, and 54 mathematics low-performing students were selected as participants. After learning the prototype worked-examples, they all applied rule variant reasoning to four variant problems presented to them. Then, they all took transfer tests. The results showed that significant differences were found in the far transfer test scores among three math performance levels, F(2, 161) = 149.74, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.65. The far transfer test scores of high-performing students were significantly better than middle-performing students (p < 0.001, 95% CI = [1.06, 1.90]) and low-performing students (p < 0.001, 95% CI = [2.36, 2.93]); The far transfer test scores of middle-performing students were significantly better than low-performing students (p < 0.001, 95% CI = [0.76, 1.57]) (see Figure 2). Experiment 3 90 mathematics middle-performing students were randomly divided into three groups. Additionally, 90 mathematics low-performing students were randomly divided into three groups. After prototype worked-examples learning, two first groups made up the variant problems by self, and then they carried out rules variant reasoning for the variant problems; two second groups carried out rules variant reasoning for four variant problems presented to them; two third groups made four types division for eight variant problems presented to them, and then they carried out rules variant reasoning for the four kinds of the variant problems. Finally, they were all tested by transfer tests. The results showed that the significant differences were found in the far transfer test scores among three groups of math middle-performing students, F(2, 179) = 24.16, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.22; but there were not significant differences in the far transfer test scores among three groups of math low-performing students, F(2, 179) = 1.28, p> 0.05 (see Figure 3). Experiment 4 80 mathematics low-performing students were randomly divided into two groups. After learning prototype worked-examples, they all made four types division for eight variant problems presented to them. The first group carried out rules variant reasoning using the variant problems of incomplete solving rules. The second group carried out rules variant reasoning for the four kinds of the variant problems. Finally, they all took transfer tests. The results showed that the far transfer test scores of the first group were significantly better than those of the second, F(1, 79) = 180.78, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.70 (see Figure 4). Conclusion The rule variant reasoning after learning prototype worked-example significantly promotes far transfer problem solving. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effects of the parent-child relationship and parental educational involvement on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation: The roles of defeat and meaning in life HU Yiqiu, ZENG Zihao, PENG Liyi, WANG Hongcai, LIU Shuangjin, YANG Qin, FANG Xiaoyi 2023, 55 (1):  129-141.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00129 Abstract ( 620 )   HTML ( 53 )   PDF (251KB) ( 374 )   Because of their high incidence as well as high risk, adolescent psychological problems have been a constant pressing topic of governmental, psychological, sociological, and medical interest for research. Adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation not only have serious impacts on an individual social functioning, the burden of disease and economic pressures caused by self-harming incidents also make it vital to explore the factors affecting these behaviors and their developmental mechanisms. Ecosystem theory emphasizes the role and significance of the environment in the process of individual development, believing that individual development is the result of one’s interactions with the surrounding environment. As the innermost structure in the ecosystem, family is the environment that is most relevant for individuals, having the greatest influence. In this study, two important components of the parent-child subsystem parent-child relationship (child) and educational involvement (parent) were introduced to explore their combined effects on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation from a binary perspective. The roles of defeat and sense of meaning in life were also investigated from an integrated motivational-volitional model perspective. The current study built a moderated mediation model exploring the combined effects of the parent-child relationship on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation. A total of 930 middle school students (501 boys, 429 girls; average age = 15.24 ± 1.66 years) and their parents participated in this investigation. After given their informed consent, both parents and students completed the Short Form of Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory, the Four-item Depressive Symptom Index − Suicidality Subscale, the Parent-Child Intimacy Questionnaire, Parental Involvement in Primary School Children Education, the Defeat Scale, and the Chinese Meaning in Life Questionnaire. SPSS 26.0, AMOS 23.0, and Mplus 7.0 were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that: (1) Compared to individuals with a low parent-child relationship and low educational involvement, adolescents with a high parent-child relationship and high educational involvement had lower levels of defeat (S = −4.37, p< 0.001, 95% CI= [−5.57, −3.32]). Compared to adolescents with a low parent-child relationship and high educational involvement, individuals with a high parent-child relationship and low educational involvement showed lower levels of defeat (S = −3.40, p< 0.001, 95% CI = [−4.53, −2.21]); (2) Defeat partially mediated the relationship between the parent-child relationship and educational involvement and adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation (Direct effectsdepression = 0.22, 95% CI = [0.16, 0.27], indirect effectsdepression = 0.19, 95% CI = [0.14, 0.24]; Direct effectsself-injury = 0.14, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.20], indirect effectsself-injury = 0.10, 95% CI = [0.06, 0.14]; Direct effectssuicidal ideation = 0.21, 95% CI = [0.15, 0.28], indirect effectssuicidal ideation = 0.12, 95% CI = [0.08, 0.17]); (3) The second half of the mediation model was moderated by meaning in life, that is, with the increase of meaning in life, the effect of defeat on depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation gradually decreased. Based on ecosystem theory and integrated motivational-volitional model, and using innovative polynomial regression and response surface analysis, the current study investigated the influence of the parent-child relationship and parents' educational involvement on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation, as well as the mediating and moderating effects of defeat and meaning in life. The results providing additional evidence for the relevant developmental theories of depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation. This study also offers more insight into potential psychological crisis behavioral interventions. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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An empirical Q-matrix validation method using complete information matrix in cognitive diagnostic models LIU Yanlou, WU Qiongqiong 2023, 55 (1):  142-158.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00142 Abstract ( 199 )   HTML ( 11 )   PDF (460KB) ( 123 )   A Q-matrix, which defines the relations between latent attributes and items, is a central building block of the cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs). In practice, a Q-matrix is usually specified subjectively by domain experts, which might contain some misspecifications. The misspecified Q-matrix could cause several serious problems, such as inaccurate model parameters and erroneous attribute profile classifications. Several Q-matrix validation methods have been developed in the literature, such as the G-DINA discrimination index (GDI), Wald test based on an incomplete information matrix (Wald-IC), and Hull methods. Although these methods have shown promising results on Q-matrix recovery rate (QRR) and true positive rate (TPR), a common drawback of these methods is that they obtain poor results on true negative rate (TNR). It is important to note that the worse performance of the Wald-IC method on TNR might be caused by the incorrect computation of the information matrix. A new Q-matrix validation method is proposed in this paper that constructs a Wald test with a complete empirical cross-product information matrix (XPD). A simulation study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Wald-XPD method and compare it with GDI, Wald-IC, and Hull methods. Five factors that may influence the performance of Q-matrix validation were manipulated. Attribute patterns were generated following either a uniform distribution or a higher-order distribution. The misspecification rate was set to two levels: QM = 0.15 and QM= 0.3. Two sample sizes were manipulated: 500 and 1000. The three levels of item quality (IQ) were defined as high IQ, Pj(0) ~ U(0, 0.2) and Pj(1) ~ U(0.8, 1); medium IQ, Pj(0) ~ U(0.1, 0.3) and Pj(1) ~ U(0.7, 0.9); and low IQ, Pj(0) ~ U(0.2, 0.4) and Pj(1) ~ U(0.6, 0.8). The number of attributes was fixed at K = 4. Two ratios of the number of items to attribute were considered in the study: J = 16[(K= 4) × (JK = 4)] and J = 32[(K= 4) × (JK = 8)]. The QRR, TPR, and TNR of the simulation results of the HullP、Wald-IC and Wald-XPD methods are displayed in Figures 1 to 3. (1) The Wald-XPD method always provided the best results or was close to the best-performing method across the different factor levels, especially in the terms of the TNR, as illustrated in Figure 3. The HullP and Wald-IC methods produced larger values of QRR and TPR but smaller values of TNR, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. A similar pattern was observed between HullP and HullR, with HullP being better than HullR. Among the Q-matrix validation methods considered in this study, the GDI method was the worst performer. (2) The results from the comparison of the HullP, Wald-IC, and Wald-XPD methods suggested that the Wald-XPD method is more preferred for Q-matrix validation. Even though the HullP and Wald-IC methods could provide higher TPR values when the conditions were particularly unfavorable (e.g., low item quality, short test length, and low sample size), they obtain very low TNR values. The practical application of the Wald-XPD method was illustrated using real data. In conclusion, the Wald-XPD method has excellent power to detect and correct misspecified q-entry. In addition, it is a generic method that can serve as an important complement to domain experts’ judgement, which could reduce their workload. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics