Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology-Revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale最新文献

This article examines gender disparities in the allocation of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) funding to cognitive scientists. It expands on previous work by Titone et al. (2018) with updated data from 2016 to 2023. By analyzing publicly available funding data, we assessed trends in NSERC awards distribution across different career stages. Our analyses revealed that while women receive more student research awards at the undergraduate and graduate levels, significant gender disparities persist at senior levels, where men continue to receive more Discovery Grants and higher funding amounts. With respect to changes in recent years, the postdoctoral fellowship awards showed increased gender parity. As well, early career researchers have seen a shift towards gender parity, indicating some success in the efforts to support up-and-coming researchers. Thus, while progress has been made, further actions are necessary to bridge gender gaps in research funding and to support the long-term career development of women cognitive scientists. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Is learning history preserved in the mental representation of simple arithmetic facts? We compared addition and multiplication of Chinese-educated students to address this question. Chinese-educated students learn to memorize multiplication problems in the min × max order (e.g., 6 × 8, referred to as min-first). In contrast, for addition, they are taught to decompose the smaller digit to make 10 (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4). We hypothesized that these learning experiences would be reflected in the preferred order of operands, that is, min-first for multiplication and max-first for addition. Forty-three Chinese-educated participants solved single-digit multiplication and addition problems. As anticipated, participants responded faster when addition and multiplication were presented in their preferred orders. One implication of this research is that experiences during training can be designed to enhance arithmetic fluency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Prediction error minimization and embodied cognition theorists posit that abstract self-representations are predicated on models of the self as an embodied agent. While the view of continuity between conceptual and bodily self is common to several frameworks in psychology and cognitive science, empirical tests of this relationship are scant. However, a recent study by Krol et al., (see record 2020-26839-011) found that people low in self-concept clarity (SCC) were more vulnerable to the rubber-hand illusion-in particular, in the asynchronous stroking condition, where the illusion is unwarranted. This study provides preliminary evidence for an association between self-concept strength and vulnerability to illusions regarding the bodily self. Here we sought to replicate this finding in an existing study that assessed SCC and the rubber-hand illusion. Using linear mixed-effects modelling, we found that lower SCC was again associated with greater embodiment of the rubber hand in the asynchronous condition; moreover, we also observed this effect in the synchronous stroking condition, providing additional evidence for the role of SCC in vulnerability to bodily illusions. We discuss the implications of this finding for theories in social cognitive neuroscience. Finally, as the study we drew upon to test the replication effect involved the administration of intranasal oxytocin, we also took this opportunity to replicate a previously observed effect of oxytocin on embodiment of the rubber hand; this effect, however, did not replicate, although methodological difference may have played a role. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Although gaze information is important for human interactions, recent studies show that in natural exchanges, mutual face-to-face looks occur relatively infrequently, on less than 15% of interaction time. In the present study, we conducted two dyadic interaction experiments utilizing dual mobile eye-tracking eyeglasses to examine if the prevalence of mutual face-to-face looks may be affected by interactive context. In Experiment 1, we strengthened the interactive context by measuring looking behaviours in dyads of friends. In Experiment 2, we weakened the interactive context by measuring looking behaviours in dyads of strangers interacting under facial visual occlusion. In both experiments, we found that mutual looks continued to occur rarely, on 7% of interaction time in Experiment 1 and 4% of interaction time in Experiment 2. Thus, changes in the interactive context appear not to affect the overall low prevalence of mutual looking in natural interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

As the aging population grows, it is important to investigate factors that protect against cognitive decline. Bilingualism is hypothesized to contribute to cognitive reserve. However, the research on the influence of bilingualism and related variables (e.g., age of second language [L2] acquisition and language usage) on episodic memory remains sparse. We investigate the role of L2 age of acquisition, proficiency, and usage on verbal and nonverbal episodic memory in middle-aged and older adult bilingual speakers of English and French. Accuracy on a verbal memory task was negatively associated with L2 usage at work. People with lower L2 proficiency and usage at home performed better on a nonverbal memory task in terms of accuracy and reaction time, respectively. Earlier L2 acquisition was associated with higher accuracy on the nonverbal memory task. We hypothesize that greater L2 engagement leads to increased effort to inhibit nonrelevant stimuli, impeding episodic memory retrieval, and the effort required is lower with earlier L2 acquisition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Working memory is associated with general intelligence and is crucial for performing complex cognitive tasks. Neuroimaging investigations have recognized that working memory is supported by a distribution of activity in regions across the entire brain. Identification of these regions has come primarily from general linear model analyses of statistical parametric maps to reveal brain regions whose activation is linearly related to working memory task conditions. This approach can fail to detect nonlinear task differences or differences reflected in distributed patterns of activity. In this study, we take advantage of the increased sensitivity of multivariate pattern analysis in a multiple-constraint deep learning classifier to analyze patterns of whole-brain blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activity in children performing two different conditions of the emotional n-back task. Regional (supervoxel) whole-brain activation patterns from functional imaging runs of 20 children were used to train a set of neural network classifiers to identify task category (0-back vs. 2-back) and activation co-occurrence probability, which encoded functional connectivity. These simultaneous constraints promote the discovery of coherent networks that contribute towards task performance in each memory load condition. Permutation analyses discovered the global activation patterns and interregional coactivations that distinguish memory load. Examination of model weights identified the brain regions most predictive of memory load and the functional networks integrating these regions. Community detection analyses identified functional networks integrating task-predictive regions and found distinct patterns of network activation for each task type. Comparisons to functional network literature suggest more focused attentional network activation during the 2-back task. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

We search for objects every day using touch alone, as in reaching for keys in our pockets or reaching for pens in our desk drawers. In such contexts, we engage in a "free-range" haptic search. The objects we feel can be moved freely and our hands can move freely. Free-range haptic search has been little studied, so we developed a laboratory task to do so. We invited college student to feel for a plastic pipe of fixed length among a variable number of uniformly shorter or longer plastic pipes, giving half of our participants informative precues (pictures showing the number of distractors and size difference between the target and distractors) and the other half uninformative precues (a simple "go-ahead" message). The informative precues boosted efficiency only when the target was much larger than the distractors. The result suggests that participants could take advantage of the informative precues to opt for a quick sweep of the search area to pick out the object that would "stick out like a sore thumb." Otherwise, they would resort to that strategy with a lower probability. Because our task has high ecological validity, we can recommend that informative advance information may help haptically impaired individuals search more efficiently. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Reports an error in "Determining the optimal environmental information for training computational models of lexical semantics and lexical organization" by Brendan T. Johns (Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale, 2024[Sep], Vol 78[3], 163-173; see record 2025-18520-001). In the article, the bar graph for Figure 4 is not the correct graph. The correct graph is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2025-18520-001.) Experiential theories of cognition propose that the external environment shapes cognitive processing, shifting emphasis from internal mechanisms to the learning of environmental structure. Computational modelling, particularly distributional models of lexical semantics (e.g., Landauer & Dumais, 1997) and models of lexical organization (e.g., Johns, 2021a), exemplifies this, highlights the influence of language experience on cognitive representations. While these models have been successful, comparatively less attention has been paid to the training materials used to train these models. Recent research has explored the role of social/communicatively oriented training materials on models of lexical semantics and organization (Johns, 2021a, 2021b, 2023, 2024), introducing discourse- and user-centred text training materials. However, determining the optimal training materials for these two model types remains an open question. This article addresses this problem by using experiential optimization (Johns, Jones, & Mewhort, 2019), which selects the materials that maximize model performance. This study will use experiential optimization to compare user-based and discourse-based corpora in optimizing models of lexical organization and semantics, offering insight into pathways towards integrating cognitive models in these areas. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Mathematical orthography comprises knowledge of mathematical symbols and the conventions for combining those symbols. For example, in the expression x3 + 3x, the positions of the symbol "3" in each term dictate its meanings in the expression. To be successful mathematical problem solvers, people need to know these conventional orthographic patterns. In this study, mathematical orthography skills were assessed in an online format for 189 adults using a timed dichotomous symbol-decision task (e.g., are these expressions conventional? (|x| or ||x)). The symbol-decision task predicted unique variance in whole-number arithmetic, word problem solving, and algebra, controlling for verbal working memory. These results support the role of individual differences in mathematical orthography as a predictor of advanced mathematical skills. In contrast, a written language orthography task only predicted unique variance in word problem solving, where participants read texts. The role of mathematical orthography should be considered in models of mathematical cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Episodic future thinking is the ability to project the self forward in time to preexperience a potential future event. It has been hypothesized that two components enhance simulations of future events: personal likelihood and event familiarity. Personal likelihood varies depending on the dynamics of personal goals throughout an individual's lifetime. In contrast, event familiarity varies depending on a person's accumulated schematic (also called event or semantic) knowledge about a type of event. We investigated these two components through individuals' belief in the likelihood of an event's occurrence during the next 10 years and their familiarity with a type of event. We predicted that likelihood and familiarity enhance future event simulations, making them clearer and more detailed. We used two norming studies to develop participant-specific sets of future events. In the experiment, participants simulated and described events, and they rated phenomenological aspects of their simulations. Likelihood and familiarity played individual and combined roles during future event simulation. The strongest effects were found with phenomenological ratings, with likelihood and familiarity influencing three of four measures, including interacting for other sensory details ratings. For internal details as measured using the Autobiographical Interview, likelihood influenced total details and perceptual details, and familiarity influenced total, perceptual, and time details, including their interaction for perceptual details. We conclude that event future thinking is a dynamic simulation process that uses event knowledge learned from past experience and is influenced by a person's belief of how likely an event is to occur via mental rehearsal of likely events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).