Ditransitive structures in child language acquisition: An investigation of production and comprehension in children aged five to seven.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the acquisition of ditransitive structures beyond production. We conducted an elicitation task (production) and a picture-sentence matching task measuring accuracy and response times (comprehension). We examined German five-to seven-year-old typically developing children and an adult control group. Our data showed quasi-perfect performance in comprehension in adults and in those children who had already mastered ditransitives productively. However, children who had not yet mastered the production of ditransitives showed comprehension abilities preceding production abilities. Unlike adults, in the comprehension task children did not react explicitly before the end of the auditory stimulus.

Learning of novel semantic relationships via sudden comprehension is associated with a hippocampus-independent network.

Sudden comprehension-or insight-during problem-solving can enhance learning, but the underlying neural processes are largely unknown. We investigated neural correlates of learning from sudden comprehension using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a verbal problem-solving task. Solutions and "solutions" to solvable and unsolvable verbal problems, respectively, were presented to induce sudden comprehension or continued incomprehension. We found activations of the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), amygdala, and striatum during sudden comprehension. Notably, however, mPFC and temporo-parietal neocortical structures rather than the hippocampus were associated with later learning of suddenly comprehended solutions. Moreover, difficult compared to easy sudden comprehension elicited midbrain activations and was associated with successful learning, pointing to learning via intrinsic reward. Sudden comprehension of novel semantic associations may constitute a special case of long-term memory formation primarily mediated by the mPFC, expanding our knowledge of its role in prior-knowledge-dependent memory.

Feelings-of-Warmth Increase More Abruptly for Verbal Riddles Solved With in Contrast to Without Aha! Experience.

When we are confronted with a new problem, we typically try to apply strategies that have worked in the past and which usually lead closer to the solution incrementally. However, sometimes, either during a problem-solving attempt that does not seem to lead closer to the solution, or when we have given up on problem-solving for the moment, the solution seems to appear out of nowhere. This is often called a moment of insight. Whereas the cognitive processes of getting closer to the solution are still unknown for insight problem-solving, there are two diverging theories on the subjective feeling of getting closer to the solution: (1) One that states that an intuitive feeling of closeness to the solution increases slowly, but incrementally, before it surpasses the threshold to consciousness and becomes verbalizable (=insight) (continuous approach), and (2) another that proposes that the feeling of closeness to the solution does not increase before it exceeds the threshold to consciousness (discontinuous approach). Here, we investigated the subjective feeling of closeness to the solution, assessed as feeling-of-warmth (FoW), its relationship to solving the problem versus being presented with it and whether a feeling of Aha! was experienced. Additionally, we tested whether Aha! experiences are more likely when the problem is solved actively by the participant or presented to the participant after an unsuccessful problem-solving attempt, and whether the frequency of Aha! experiences correlates with problem difficulty. To our knowledge, this is the first study combining the CRAT with FoW assessments for the named conditions (solved/unsolved, three difficulty levels, Aha!/no Aha!). We used a verbal problem-solving task, the Compound Remote Associates Task (CRAT). Our data revealed that Aha! experiences were more often reported for solutions generated by the participant compared to solutions presented after unsuccessful problem-solving. Moreover, FoW curves showed a steeper increase for the last two FoW ratings when problems were solved with Aha! in contrast to without Aha!. Based on this observation, we provide a preliminary explanation for the underlying cognitive process of solving CRA problems via insight.

Perception of children with visible untreated and treated caries.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyse if children with untreated or treated caries (restorations/missing teeth) are perceived differently compared to children with healthy teeth and to explore possible differences in the perception by laypersons and dental experts. METHODS: Eye movements of female experts (n = 20) and laypersons (n = 18) were recorded by eye-tracking while paired images (neutral expression/teeth not visible; emotional expression/smiling, teeth visible) of children with healthy teeth, with visible untreated or treated caries (restorations/missing teeth as a consequence of caries treatment), each n = 13, were presented. First fixation, total fixation time and number of fixations on the areas of interest (eyes, nose, mouth) in the first two seconds of presentation were determined. Furthermore, the images were rated regarding arousal, valence and attractivity. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney-U- and Kruskal-Wallis-tests (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Generally, laypersons spent more time exploring and fixating the eye region than the mouth, while dental experts more often first percept and longer and more often fixated the mouth region, especially in images with emotional expression. Dental experts, but not laypersons, were significantly longer fixating the mouth of children with untreated caries than the mouth of children with healthy teeth in images with emotional expression. When evaluating images with emotional expression, both dental experts and laypersons rated children with healthy teeth to be more attractive, pleasant and calm than children with untreated or treated caries. CONCLUSIONS: Children with visible treated and untreated caries were differently perceived by laypersons and dental experts than children with healthy teeth.

Linking the Positivity Effect in Attention with Affective Outcomes: Age Group Differences and the Role of Arousal.

Despite its assumed importance for emotional well-being, studies investigating the positivity effect (PE) in older adults' information processing rarely tested its relationship with immediate or general affective outcome measures like emotional reactivity or emotional well-being. Moreover, the arousal level of the to-be-processed emotional stimuli has rarely been taken into account as a moderator for the occurrence of the PE and its relationship with affective outcomes. Age group differences (young vs. old) in attention (i.e., fixation durations using eye tracking) and subjective emotional reactions (i.e., pleasantness ratings) were investigated in response to picture stimuli systematically varied in valence (positive vs. negative) and arousal (low vs. high). We examined whether there is a link between age group differences in fixation durations and affective outcomes (i.e., subjective emotional reactions as well as emotional well-being). Older compared to young adults fixated less on the most emotional part in negative but not in positive low-arousing pictures. This age difference did not occur under high arousal. While age group differences in fixation duration did not translate into age group differences in subjective emotional reactions, we found a positive relationship between fixation duration on negative low-arousing pictures and emotional well-being, i.e., negative affect. The present study replicated the well-known PE in attention and emotional reactivity. In line with the idea that the PE reflects top-down-driven processing of affective information, age group differences in fixation durations decreased under high arousal. The present findings are consistent with the idea that age-related changes in the processing of emotional information support older adults' general emotional well-being.

Neural Correlates of Learning from Induced Insight: A Case for Reward-Based Episodic Encoding.

Experiencing insight when solving problems can improve memory formation for both the problem and its solution. The underlying neural processes involved in this kind of learning are, however, thus far insufficiently understood. Here, we conceptualized insight as the sudden understanding of a novel relationship between known stimuli that fits into existing knowledge and is accompanied by a positive emotional response. Hence, insight is thought to comprise associative novelty, schema congruency, and intrinsic reward, all of which are separately known to enhance memory performance. We examined the neural correlates of learning from induced insight with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using our own version of the compound-remote-associates-task (CRAT) in which each item consists of three clue words and a solution word. (Pseudo-)Solution words were presented after a brief period of problem-solving attempts to induce either sudden comprehension (CRA items) or continued incomprehension (control items) at a specific time point. By comparing processing of the solution words of CRA with control items, we found induced insight to elicit activation of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (rACC/mPFC) and left hippocampus. This pattern of results lends support to the role of schema congruency (rACC/mPFC) and associative novelty (hippocampus) in the processing of induced insight. We propose that (1) the mPFC not only responds to schema-congruent information, but also to the detection of novel schemata, and (2) that the hippocampus responds to a form of associative novelty that is not just a novel constellation of familiar items, but rather comprises a novel meaningful relationship between the items-which was the only difference between our insight and no insight conditions. To investigate episodic long-term memory encoding, we compared CRA items whose solution word was recognized 24 h after encoding to those with forgotten solutions. We found activation in the left striatum and parts of the left amygdala, pointing to a potential role of brain reward circuitry in the encoding of the solution words. We propose that learning from induced insight mainly relies on the amygdala evaluating the internal value (as an affective evaluation) of the suddenly comprehended information, and striatum-dependent reward-based learning.

Perceptual complexity, rather than valence or arousal accounts for distracter-induced overproductions of temporal durations.

For humans and other species, the ability to estimate the physical passage of time is of fundamental importance for perceptual, cognitive or motor functions. Despite this importance, any subjective estimation of temporal durations not only depends on the temporal dynamics of the to-be-timed stimulus or event, but also can be distorted by non-temporal perceptual, cognitive, and emotional effects. This study aimed to further explore critical stimulus characteristics modulating distracter-induced distortions in human time-reproduction. To this end, we investigated whether subjectively rated distracter dimensions of arousal and valence (related to levels of emotionality), or rather stimulus complexity, as a confounder, produce distortions in participants' reproduction of a previously trained target interval. Accuracy and precision of time-reproduction have been measured in distracter-trials, and compared to timing performance in baseline-trials without any distraction. Results showed temporal overproductions in a magnitude of less than distracter duration only for complex distracters. Most importantly, arousal level and valence of distracters were not accountable for temporal distortions. Within an internal clock framework, our pattern of results can best be interpreted in the context of attention-, rather than arousal-based mechanisms of timing.

Effects of mobile augmented reality learning compared to textbook learning on medical students: randomized controlled pilot study.

BACKGROUND: By adding new levels of experience, mobile Augmented Reality (mAR) can significantly increase the attractiveness of mobile learning applications in medical education. OBJECTIVE: To compare the impact of the heightened realism of a self-developed mAR blended learning environment (mARble) on learners to textbook material, especially for ethically sensitive subjects such as forensic medicine, while taking into account basic psychological aspects (usability and higher level of emotional involvement) as well as learning outcomes (increased learning efficiency). METHODS: A prestudy was conducted based on a convenience sample of 10 third-year medical students. The initial emotional status was captured using the "Profile of Mood States" questionnaire (POMS, German variation); previous knowledge about forensic medicine was determined using a 10-item single-choice (SC) test. During the 30-minute learning period, the students were randomized into two groups: the first group consisted of pairs of students, each equipped with one iPhone with a preinstalled copy of mARble, while the second group was provided with textbook material. Subsequently, both groups were asked to once again complete the POMS questionnaire and SC test to measure changes in emotional state and knowledge gain. Usability as well as pragmatic and hedonic qualities of the learning material was captured using AttrakDiff2 questionnaires. Data evaluation was conducted anonymously. Descriptive statistics for the score in total and the subgroups were calculated before and after the intervention. The scores of both groups were tested against each other using paired and unpaired signed-rank tests. An item analysis was performed for the SC test to objectify difficulty and selectivity. RESULTS: Statistically significant, the mARble group (6/10) showed greater knowledge gain than the control group (4/10) (Wilcoxon z=2.232, P=.03). The item analysis of the SC test showed a difficulty of P=0.768 (s=0.09) and a selectivity of RPB=0.2. For mARble, fatigue (z=2.214, P=.03) and numbness (z=2.07, P=.04) decreased with statistical significance when comparing pre- and post-tests. Vigor rose slightly, while irritability did not increase significantly. Changes in the control group were insignificant. Regarding hedonic quality (identification, stimulation, attractiveness), there were significant differences between mARble (mean 1.179, CI -0.440 to 0.440) and the book chapter (mean -0.982, CI -0.959 to 0.959); the pragmatic quality mean only differed slightly. CONCLUSIONS: The mARble group performed considerably better regarding learning efficiency; there are hints for activating components of the mAR concept that may serve to fascinate the participants and possibly boost interest in the topic for the remainder of the class. While the small sample size reduces our study's conclusiveness, its design seems appropriate for determining the effects of interactive eLearning material with respect to emotions, learning efficiency, and hedonic and pragmatic qualities using a larger group. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS), DRKS-ID: DRKS00004685; https://drks-neu.uniklinik-freiburg.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00004685.