| 1. |
- Mårtensson, Johan, et al.
(author)
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White matter microstructure predicts foreign language learning in army interpreters
- 2020
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In: Bilingualism. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1366-7289 .- 1469-1841. ; 23:4, s. 763-771
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adult foreign language acquisition is challenging, and the degree of success varies among individuals. Anatomical differences in brain structure prior to training can partly explain why some learn more than others. We followed a sample of conscript interpreters undergoing intense language training to study learning-related changes in white-matter microstructure (FA, MD, RD and AD) and associations between differences in brain structure prior to training with acquired language proficiency. No evidence for changes in white matter microstructure relative to a control group was found. Starting values of RD, AD and MD were positively related to final test scores of language proficiency, corroborating earlier findings in the field and highlighting the need for further study of how initial brain structure influences and interacts with learning outcomes.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Linus, 1979-, et al.
(author)
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Neurocognitive processes underlying heuristic and normative probability judgments
- 2020
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In: Cognition. - : ELSEVIER. - 0010-0277 .- 1873-7838. ; 196, s. 1-7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Judging two events in combination (A&B) as more probable than one of the events (A) is known as a conjunction fallacy. According to dual-process explanations of human judgment and decision making, the fallacy is due to the application of a heuristic, associative cognitive process. Avoiding the fallacy has been suggested to require the recruitment of a separate process that can apply normative rules. We investigated these assumptions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during conjunction tasks. Judgments, whether correct or not, engaged a network of brain regions identical to that engaged during similarity judgments. Avoidance of the conjunction fallacy additionally, and uniquely, involved a fronto-parietal network previously linked to supervisory, analytic control processes. The results lend credibility to the idea that incorrect probability judgments are the result of a representativeness heuristic that requires additional neurocognitive resources to avoid.
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