Department of Psychology, Université Laval, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2021 Apr;162:49-59. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.02.002. Epub 2021 Feb 4.
Previous research indicates that negative emotions influence cognitive resource utilization during analogical reasoning. However, no research has yet demonstrated an influence of negative emotions on inference formation during analogical reasoning. For this reason, we used evoked response potentials to investigate how negatively valenced content affects inference formation during analogical reasoning. Participants generated inferences about the missing term of 256 four-term analogies consisting of a first pair (A is to B), a second incomplete pair (as C is to?), and a probe term (D). We manipulated the affective valence of the terms (negative/neutral) forming the first two pairs and the soundness of the analogies. In Experiment 1, the terms were words and the relations were semantic in nature. We recorded the N400 event-related component time-locked to the probe term. The effect of analogy soundness on N400 amplitude was weaker when both pairs of terms were negative than when one or both pairs were neutral. In Experiment 2, we used analogies with negatively or neutrally conditioned symbols as terms, and visuospatial transformations as relations. We recorded the P3b event-related component time-locked to the final term of the analogy. The effect of analogy soundness on P3b amplitude was weaker when the first pair of terms was negatively conditioned than when they were neutrally conditioned. Results of both experiments suggested that negatively valenced content impairs the formation of inferences during analogical reasoning, as indicated by reduced effects of analogy soundness on N400 and P3b in the presence of negatively valenced content.
先前的研究表明，负面情绪会影响类比推理过程中的认知资源利用。然而，目前还没有研究表明负面情绪会影响类比推理过程中的推理形成。出于这个原因，我们使用诱发反应电位来研究负面内容如何影响类比推理过程中的推理形成。参与者对由 256 个四词类比组成的缺失项进行推理，这些类比由第一个对（A 是 B）、第二个不完整对（C 是？）和一个探测项（D）组成。我们操纵了形成前两个对的项的情感效价（负面/中性）和类比的合理性。在实验 1 中，项是单词，关系本质上是语义的。我们记录了与探测项时间锁定的 N400 事件相关成分。当两对项都是负面时，类比合理性对 N400 振幅的影响比一对或两对都是中性时要弱。在实验 2 中，我们使用具有负或中性条件符号的类比作为项，以及视空间转换作为关系。我们记录了与类比最后一项时间锁定的 P3b 事件相关成分。当第一对项具有负条件时，类比合理性对 P3b 振幅的影响比它们具有中性条件时要弱。这两个实验的结果都表明，负面内容会损害类比推理过程中的推理形成，这表现在负面内容存在时，类比合理性对 N400 和 P3b 的影响减小。
