Archive

20 January 2015, Volume 38 Issue 1 Previous Issue    Next Issue

---

For Selected:

Download Citations EndNote Ris BibTeX

Toggle Thumbnails

Select

The New Developments and Directions of Study-Time Allocation 2015, 38(1): 249-253.  Abstract ( )   PDF (904KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Review and Prospect on Boundaryless Career Based on Two Decades of Studies Li-Rong LONG 2015, 38(1): 243-248.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1098KB) ( )   Under the circumstances of unpredictable market and organization, the background of career management currently is in a dramatical change. Thus, it contributes to a new way to think about career—boundaryless career, which refers to a series of career opportunities unfolding in a single employment settings, and it contains two types: physical mobility and psychological mobility. This article arranges all the related literatures about boundaryless career from the following points: concept development, measurement, influencing factors, effect, summary of past controversies, and reviews and future prospects about the domestic researches. Boundaryless career can be divided into six aspects: (1) movement across the boundaries of separate employers; (2) recognition and marketability from outside as well as the present employer; (3) supported by “external” networks or information; (4) breaking the traditional career boundaries in organization; (5) rejection of immediate career opportunities for personal or family reasons; (6) perceiving a boundaryless future regardless of structural constraints. For the new career model, this article states the differences and similarities among traditional career, protean career and boundaryless career in a simple way. Measurements on the boundaryless career concern about two attitudes—boundaryless mindset (BM) and organizational mobility preference (OMP), and they are both included in the psychological mobility. The former refers to people's preference toward initiating and pursuing work-related relationships across departmental and organizational boundaries. And the later refers to the inclination to physically crossing organizational boundaries in employment mobility. The article generalizes four influencing factors from individual and cultural dimensions: demography, personality, human capital and cultural. The four factors influence people’s choice of careers from the different sides. Also three effects are summed up: the impact on career success, job mobility and the organization. Boundaryless career has both advantages and disadvantages over personal career success. For example, it is beneficial to the accumulation of organizational knowledge, but leads to the loss of important knowledge. Besides, it increases individual job mobility. That is, OMP decreases three types organizational commitment (affected commitment, normative commitment, continuous commitment) and BM is moderated in its relationship to normative commitment in that lower development opportunities. Despite that, some controversies still exists in previous studies: (1) the concept is difficult to operate for its multiplicity and obscureness; (2) whether this kind of career has played the dominant role still remains to be discussed; (3) previous studies mainly focus on the physical mobility and the psychological mobility separately, ignoring the relationship between the two; (4) too much emphasis has been put on the person in organizations. The above disputes show us the fact that researches about boundaryless career are very significant but far from adequate. In contemporary China, native studies based on our national conditions should be conducted so as to develop our own theories and empirical studies. Since the employment-organization relationship (EOR) is becoming a more and more important issue on constructing the harmonious society, future native studies should pay close attention to the interaction between three career models, psychological contract and EOR. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Are Mirror Neurons the “Holy Grail” of Cognitive Science? 2015, 38(1): 237-242.  Abstract ( )   PDF (920KB) ( )   The discovery of mirror neurons in the 1990s has led to much excitement in the cognitive neuroscience. Mirror neurons have received a great deal of attention from specialists both in the scientific field and public media. More and more abilities have been attributed to these neurons, they are even hailed as “do for psychology what DNA did for biology”. And a series of studies related to them have given rise to “a revolution in understanding social behavior”. Mirror neuron have been ascribed a wide variety of functions, such as action understanding, imitation, empathy, theory of mind, language evolution, telepathy, self-awareness, substance use disorders, etc. Mirror neurons are viewed as “holy grail” of cognitive science. Although, mirror neurons are widely assumed to play a key role in social cognition, florescence of often-aggressive debates have also arisen in this field. This review shows that current data about mirror neurons are very mixed and those studies using weakly localised measures to examine the functions of mirror neuron (system) are hard to interpret. Firstly, some theorists misuse and abuse the operational definition of mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are a class of visuomotor neurons activated by both the execution and the passive observation of object-related actions. Cells having this property were only found in macaques within the premotor cortex (area F5), and in the rostral part of the inferior parietal cortex (PF). Secondly, the idea that mirror neurons are existing in human being remains controversial, Though the human homolog of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) can be seen as classic human mirror neuron system. We systematically review the empirical foundations of mirror neuron researches, it turns out that unless someone can manage to evade all of the ethical, technical, and procedural limitations imposed on human brain research, no complementary research can be carried out to demonstrate the existence of mirror neurons in human brain convincingly with microelectrodes or any other technique operations at the neuronal level. Last but not the least, claiming the mirror mechanism plays a crucial role in understanding the behavior of others does not imply that there are no other mechanisms involved in action understanding. Some of these mechanisms based on the social brain are basic and not be ignored, relying on the association between a given stimulus and its corresponding effect. Based on this, the mirror neuron (system) and its mirror mechanisms neither can be used to account for empathy, imitation and mindreading, nor can explain other social cognition phenomena. It’s an outdated ideology as modularity of mind. The future study for mirror neurons must attempt to answer the following questions. (1) How can an agent make a distinction between the intention of self-action and those of others? And how can mirror neuron (system) and other social brains cooperate in this processing? (2) How can an agent make an understanding outcome prediction of action, it isn’t depends not at all on the action itself, but on the context which action embedded, so inferential reasoning or embodied simulation carry out processing? Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Neuropsychological mechanisms of body perception 2015, 38(1): 85-92.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1382KB) ( )   Abstract:Abstract: Similar to the human face, human body is symmetrical. It is composed by body parts according to certain spatial relationships. Human body can provide information about individual’s identity, age, gender, intention, emotional state, and so on. Perceptions of body together with perceptions of face promote individual’s identity discrimination. Body perception refers to the detection, perception or recognition about the visual human body stimuli. Body perception, just as face perception, should be paid more attention in scientific research. The purpose of the article is to outline and evaluate cognitive and neural studies about body perception. This article mainly focuses on cognitive and neural mechanisms of body perception. Finally, the article made a number of open issues for future researches. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Impact of Retaining Object Working Memory on Time Perception 2015, 38(1): 35-41.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1177KB) ( )   Nontemporal information processing involving short-term memory requirements disturbs time estimation. Previous studies mostly used letters or digits, which are maintained in working memory by phonological loops. Since verbal and nonverbal information are processed by separate working-memory subsystems, how do nonverbal, object-based memory tasks affect time estimation? Our prior study adopted nonverbal objects as memory materials, and found that produced time increased with increasing memory-object size under both the active processing and passive retention conditions; mean produced time interval did not significantly differ between the two experimental conditions. This result suggests that estimated duration is also affected by memory item maintenance when retention of objects requires more mental resources. Since some researches suggest that two distinct timing mechanisms are involved in temporal information processing in the range of milliseconds and longer durations. What it is like the relationship between retaining working memory information and perceived duration in the milliseconds range. Several researches combined time perception and memory task in which participants were requested to either processing verbal information or maintaining working memory items during the duration discrimination task. They found that duration discrimination of brief intervals was not affected by a secondary task that demanded either maintenance or elaborative rehearsal, suggesting that perceived duration was not influenced by retention of verbal working memory. Based on these distinct effects of retention of verbal information and object information on timing in the range of seconds, we further investigated whether retention of object information into working memory could affect time judgment in the range of milliseconds. This study employed a dual task paradigm combing time bisection task and working memory to explore the effect of retention of WM content on time judgment. Abstract figures that were relatively difficult to verbalize, name, and distinguish from each other were selected from prior studies. In the time bisection task, the two standard durations and five new durations (intermediate durations) were presented across trials in random order. After the offset of each duration, the participants had to click a button to judge its duration approached either short or long anchor durations. Participants first memorized two or four objects, and then performed a duration judgment task by judging the current intermediate durations was similar to short or long standard durations. At the end of each trial, indicated whether a test items was the same to or different from the memorized items. The point of subjective simultaneity and RTs were served as measurement index. We manipulated memory load and SOA (SOA: the time interval from offset of memory items to onset of time judgment task). The results showed that perceived duration was not affected by memory load, yet the RTs under low memory load condition was shorter than the RTs under high memory load when the SOA was shorter. In Experiment 2, we further investigated whether the effect of memory load on timing depended on perceptual priming, in which subjects were only required to complete time perception task. The results demonstrated that the impact of perceptual load on perceived duration is distinguished from the effect of memory load. These results suggest that time judgment in the range of milliseconds is affected by the interaction between memory load and SOA. The effect of SOA was likely related to task switch. The finding implies that time perception and retention of objects is also modulated by working memory especially central executive resources. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Can we self control or plan the results emergence of unconscious thought? 2015, 38(1): 62-67.  Abstract ( )   PDF (976KB) ( )   All the previous research about unconscious thought has a problem, which is participants had no idea of the length of distraction time (they didn't know how long the time of unconscious thought was), thus they presented their results of unconscious thought under the condition of being controlled by their subjects. To solve this problem, we made some improvements on the previous research paradigm Dijksterhuis employed. Before engaging in unconscious thought, the participants were told the time the distraction task costs. Therefore, the participants can plan or control the emergence of the process and results of unconscious thought on their own. The experiment utilized a one-way between-participants design, with its independent variable being the time the participants were told before proceeding the distraction tasks and dependent variable being attitudinal difference score (the score of the most favorable roommate minus that of the worst one) One hundred and one undergraduate students (forty-two boys and fifty-nine girls) participated this study in exchange for credits. These participants were randomly assigned to four groups and completed a roommate decision task under one of the four experimental conditions: not knowing the time the distraction task costs (the same with Dijksterhuis,2004; Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006)(which is called not knowing the time); being informed of a 3-minute distraction task and actually experienced a 3-minute one (informed 3 actually 3); being informed of a 5-minute distraction task but actually experienced a 3-minute one (informed 5 actually 3) and being told 3-minute distraction task but actually experienced a 5-minute one (informed 3 actually 5). 　　　The result showed a significant main effect for the four experimental conditions through variance analysis, F（3,97）=3.29，p<.05，η2=0.092. Multiple subsequent comparisons revealed that (1)the performance of the two groups “informed 3 actually 3” (M=19.69,SD=17.27) and “informed 3 actually 5”(M=17.84,SD=21.03) is better than the two groups “not knowing the time” (M= 8.80,SD=11.69) and “informed 5 actually 3” (M =8.72, SD =12.83) (p<.05); (2) the difference of performance between “informed 3 actually 3” and “informed 3 actually 5” is not significant (p＞.05); (3) the difference of performance between “not knowing the time” and “informed 5 actually 3” is also not significant (p＞.05). 　　The experiment results have demonstrated that individuals can plan or control the emergence of the results of unconscious thought on their own. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Unidirectional Interference of Numerical Processing on Time Perception 2015, 38(1): 104-108.  Abstract ( )   PDF (931KB) ( )   Recent researches indicated that the representations of time and numerosity are closely linked. Both the mode control model and the ATOM (a theory of magnitude) proposed that our brains use similar principles of information-accumulation to process time and numerosity. A great number of researches had revealed that the automatic processing of numerosity and numerical digits interferes with both duration and temporal order perceptions in a unidirectional way. Specifically, time distortions can be induced by task-irrelevant numerical information. For example, larger numerosity or numerical digits lead to temporal overestimations and smaller numerosity or numerical digits lead to temporal underestimations. On the other hand, larger digits are judged to occur later than the smaller digits inside a temporal sequence even both digits are presented simultaneously. Here, by summarizing recent behavioural and neuroscience studies, we try to explore the underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms of the unidirectional number-time interference. In terms of cognitive basis for the unidirectional interfering effect, mixed experimental facts had been demonstrated and diverse explanations proposed. For example, time estimation and numerosity perception were found to share common properties in that both obey the Weber’s law and show similar discrimination sensitivities. However, other studies by using brain damaged patients and healthy adults revealed a double dissociation of processing of numerosity and processing of time. The development of continuous magnitude prior to the development of discrete numerosity also explains the unidirectional interference effect. Other researches proposed that the congruency effect between time and numerosity could be attributed entirely to a response bias which is inherent in comparison tasks. Spatial attention was also suggested as a mediating factor to account for the unidirectional interfering effect in that the number system can activate a change of spatial attention more easily relative to the temporal system. The neural basis for the unidirectional interfering effect can be divided into three main theories. First, an activation superiority hypothesis posits that numerosity processing has an advantage relative to time processing in activating the parietal lobes which contain the joint brain centres of time and numerosity processing. Second, the coexistence hypothesis of common neural basis and independent brain mechanisms suggests that a common brain network, such as the thalamo-cortico-striatal circuits, is responsible for processing of both temporal and numerical information, and at the same time distinct brain activation patterns exist for the processing of time and numerosity, respectively. Third, the two-stage model of numerosity-time interaction hypothesis argues that the rIPC is the neural basis of interference effect at perceptual stage and IFG at decisional stage. Taken together, in order to answer the underlying mechanisms of the unidirectional interfering effect, future studies need concentrate on several important aspects. First, it would be interesting to ask in what specific stage, i.e., a perception stage or a decision stage, the unidirectional interference occurs. Second, does the unidirectional interference depend on the response expectation and perceptual set in explicit timing tasks mostly adopted by time-numerosity interference studies? Finally, it is worth to explore the specific temporal profiles of this unidirectional interfering effect. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Influences of kinship on Moral Dilemma Decision-Making: An Event-Related Potential Study 2015, 38(1): 54-61.  Abstract ( )   PDF (2326KB) ( )   For several decades, psychologists and neuroscientists have investigated ethical dilemmas to deeper understand the cognitive and brain mechanisms. Thus, typical dilemmas such as trolley dilemma and the footbridge dilemma have served as innovational experimental materials. Based on previous studies，the present study used event-related potential to investigate how the protagonist in moral dilemmas influenced our moral decision-making or how kinship influences moral dilemma decisions and to reveal the cognitive and neural mechanisms of dilemma decision-making relative to different blood kinship. We specifically adapted 10 revised versions of typical moral dilemma scenarios mainly developed by ethicist Greene (2003) and expanded it to reflect harm, care, and altruism. According to blood relationship, we took kinship’s name (the task types) as protagonists in the dilemma situation to investigate how kinship influenced moral judgment (Father’s name as lineal kin, Uncle’s name as close relative and the Acquaintance’s name as baseline). After the participants read the scenario description (no time limit), the kinship’ names was present and the participants were asked to decide whether or not to rescue the kinship as quickly as possible. We hypothesized that it would be much easier for subjects to decide rescuing Father, compared to Uncle and Acquaintance, and this should be reflected in an ERP activation pattern. Specifically, it would be related to an early relative positivity (P2) and a late positive component (LPC) in three (Father, Uncle and Acquaintance) conditions. In the experiment，we found that there was a main effect of task types (2 relatives and a Acquaintance) for reaction time. The time of choosing to rescue Father is significantly faster than that of choosing to rescue Uncle and Acquaintance. The rate for task types is also significantly different. The rate of choosing to rescue Father is higher than Uncle and Acquaintance. In addition, a repeated ANOVA measure on N1 amplitudes and latencies demonstrated no significant effects, but Father elicited a much more positive deflection (P2 average amplitude) than did Uncle and Acquaintance. More importantly, Father elicited a much more positive deflection (LPC average amplitude) than did Uncle and acquaintance. The results showed that three types of names were approximately equal in size, word length and complexity. It also indicated that we were presumably sensitive to the suffering and the needs of lineal relative compared with other relative or acquaintance. In addition, observing from the grand averaged waveforms and topographical map, we inferred that the right central and right parietal sites could be involved in kinship bias processing in moral dilemma and the P2 and LPC might be involved in the dilemma interference resolution and execution of willed actions. Compared with kinship bias effects or self-referential effect that has been demonstrated in previous studies，the present study used electrophysiological methods to verify the existence of kinship bias effect that harm directed towards Father had a stronger impact than harm directed towards other kin or acquaintance. It further confirmed that lineal relative stimuli (e.g. Father) were processed well compared to close relative stimuli (e.g. Uncle) and acquaintance stimuli. The results showed that lineal relative was closer and more important to the well-known individual self compared with other stimuli. Father could be detected and processed preferentially compared with other kin and acquaintance who are far from one’s self. In addition, Subjects would be conscious of conflict discovery and conflict resolution processes in P2 and LPC phase. The P2 and LPC component might be related to dilemma interference resolution processes and modulate or control cognitive conflict when making dilemma decisions with regard to lineal relative, close relatives and acquaintance. These results may indicate that kinship bias effect was present but only vaguely． Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Effects of Fluency on Recognition: Experiment Evidence and Theory Explanation Bing-Bing Li 2015, 38(1): 68-74.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1047KB) ( )   The influence of fluency on recognition memory has been widely investigated in the past 30 years. Numerous studies have found that people tend to endorse more old responses to items that are more fluency. Researchers have posited fluency attribution theory, discrepancy-attribution theory, and perceptual fluecy-disfluency theory to explain how fluency could affect recognition memory. However, an integrated theory has not been provided yet. Earlier studies, using old/new test paradigm, revealed that both perceptual and conceptual fluency could influence subjects’ recognition performance (e.g. Jacoby & Whitehouse, 1989). Studies on influence of fluency on recognition applying parallel R/K paradigm have found that fluency selectively influenced familiarity but not recollection, which has been used as strong evidence to support dual-process theory of recognition memory. Rajarm(1993) investigated the influence of fluency on recognition with Jacoby and Whitehouse paradigm using R/K procedure and she found that the increase of fluency only increased K judgment but had no effect of R judgment. Later she presented semantic-related word or semantic-unrelated before the test word to investigated the influence of conceptual fluency on R/K judgment and found that the increase of conceptual fluency also only affected K judgment but not R judgment (Rajaram & Geraci, 2000). However, recent studies using independent R/K paradigm (see Higham & Vokey, 2004) with Jacoby and Whitehouse paradigm found that fluency influenced both familiarity and recollection, which shed doubts on the results of previous researches. Taylor and Henson (2012) found that conceptual fluency could selectively influence recollection but not familiarity under some circumstance. Some studies even found that fluency affected guess, which is implicit memory, but not familiarity or recollection, which are explicit memory. Further studies are still needed to explore the situations under which fluency selectively affects familiarity, under which it could also affects recollection and under which it affects implicit guessing. Most of the existing studies investigated the effect of fluency on item recognition. Studies on the effect of fluency on source or associate recognition has rarely been conducted. A recent study found that increased fluency could also facilitate source memory. More studies are still needed to investigate the mechanism of fluency’s effect on source memory performance. The result of this study suggested that fluency affects familiarity based source memory but not recollection based source memory. Further studies should also be done to investigate whether fluency could facilitate associate memory under some circumstance and the neuro-cognitive mechanism of fluency’s influence on source or associate memory. Recent studies began to investigate influence of aging on the effect of fluency on recognition. It was found that fluency affected the recognition performance of both young and old subjects, which suggested that aging does not affect this effect. It was also found that enhancing the fluency of test items could facilitate the recognition performance of people with mid Alzheimer disease. Further studies are still needed to investigate more population e.g. children, and investigate whether the neuro-cognitive activities associated with fluency and its influence on recognition are different between different age groups or between healthy and amnesic groups. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Effect of Emotional Context on Facial Emotion Perception Rui Wang Wei-Bin MAO Yong-Ze ZHU 2015, 38(1): 80-84.  Abstract ( )   PDF (904KB) ( )   The basic expressions view claims that there are basic facial expressions of emotions that are created by specific configurations of facial muscles. However, we often find that context played an important role in facial emotion perception in daily life. Moreover, a series of studies has shown that context often influences emotion perception unconsciously, but some studies have provided contradictory findings. In this paper, we provide a framework of how kinds of contexts effect on facial perception. Context effects on faces depend on the emotion seeds shared by the target expression and by the facial expression that would typically be associated with the emotional context. Words, bodies, visual scenes, and even voices shape how emotion is perceived in a face. Prior contradictory findings arise, in part, because of a lack of consideration of the perceptual similarity among facial expressions. The greater the perceptual similarity between the target face and the context-associated face, the easier it was to perceive the context emotion in the target face. On the other hand, words constitute a clear example of a perceiver-based context because they provide a top-down constraint in emotion perception, contributing information over and above the affective meaning available in structural information of a face. Besides, the evidence from eye movements while participants scanned expressive faces embedded in differing contexts showed that the information provided by the facial expression is combined with the context during the early stages of processing, and to some degree, is automatic. In addition, context effect is sensitive to cultural, age, and gender differences. Cultural context appears to influence how perceivers sample information from a face in a manner that is similar to the influence of situational context. And more important, there some findings suggest that cultural differences in reliance on context to interpret others’ emotions depend on perceptual integration processes that decline with age, leading to fewer cultural differences in perception among older adults than among younger adults. Furthermore, stress also influences background integration. A series of studies has shown that participants who were more stressed showed less of an influence of the background context on their ratings of the central face. At the end of the article, we point out that future investigations should examine the developmental timeline of face-context integration by focusing on children. And more emotions should be added in to create diverse combinations of facial expressions and contexts, and we can also promote validity of experimental result by adopting more natural and realistic examples. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The role of comma placement and lexical deviation during silent reading of Chinese text: evidence from eye movements 无 无无 2015, 38(1): 75-79.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1112KB) ( )   The neural dynamics of prosodic processing in spoken language comprehension has drew a lot of attention. However, little is known to what extent prosodic information constrains neuro-cognitive processes of written language processing. Exploration into this issue provides a better understanding of the role of prosodic information. The present research is designed to investigate whether and how a comma and the lexical deflection influence the reading of Chinese sentences, by using eye movements recording. Eye-tracking is one of the ideal methodologies for exploring this problem because it allows for recording the fixation of various observers on various parts of the sentence in real time with relatively high temporal and spatial resolution. Three types of eye movement measures such as first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total fixation duration were examined to determine how lexical deviation and comma placement was activated and the interactions of lexical deviation and comma placement during silent reading of Chinese text. A self-paced, line-by-line, reading paradigm was used, in which participants were asked to read sentences silently and press a key each time when they want a new one to appear. Some of the sentences followed by a question which required participant to judge whether the two sentences having the same meaning. The Chinese sentences had or not had a comma insert at the position of the ambiguous structure. The experiments were conducted by manipulating the meaning biased by commas and lexical deviation. Analysis indicators were first fixation duration, gaze duration and total fixation duration. According to the analysis of fixation time on the lookzones，it was found that: when there was different lexical deflection, the ambiguous sentences disambiguated by the comma had a different paten on first fixation duration, gaze duration and total fixation duration. The main effects of the comma and the lexical deflection were significant (p﹤0.05). The interaction between the comma and the lexical deflection duration was also significant(p﹤0.05). Further simple effect inspection found that the times were shorter for the target region with a comma than that of without a comma no matter what the lexical deflection was(p﹤0.05). The lexical deflection had an affect on sentences processing only when the comma had biased the adjective modify the entire phrase(p﹤0.05). The results showed that the lexical and comma deflection both had an impact on sentences processing at the early stage. The insertion of commas shortened the fixation times in region when the lexical deflection in accordance with the direction the comma disambiguated to. The interaction between the comma and the lexical deflection took place at the early stage of processing. The comma had an affect on sentences processing no matter what the lexical deflection was. The lexical deflection had an affect on sentences processing only when the comma had biased the adjective modify the entire phrase. In conclusion, our data were not only compatible with the implicit prosody hypothesis, but also suggested the interaction between the suprasegmental cues and the lexical deflection occurred at the early processing during sentence reading. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Brain Mechanism of Visual Perception Modulation 2015, 38(1): 93-97.  Abstract ( )   PDF (930KB) ( )   Abstract：Human brain is a black-box dealing with a lot of stimulation in our everyday life. However, it is not a purely receiving machine in which the perception system is of plasticity and self-directed. Indeed, the visual areas in the brain are interconnected in a complex pattern of feedforward, lateral, and feedback pathways. The top-down system can send feed-back information to primary visual cortex which will affect what we perceived. For a long time, the magnitude of cortical influences on this processing in early sensory cortex is mostly underestimated. Human brain is not a purely receiving machine in which the perception system is of plasticity and self-directed. Indeed, the visual areas in the brain are interconnected in a complex pattern of feedforward, lateral, and feedback pathways. The top-down system can send feed-back information to primary visual cortex which will affect what we perceived. For a long time, the magnitude of cortical influences on this processing in early sensory cortex is mostly underestimated. In this review, we firstly conceptualized the processing of top-down modulation. Then we introduced the neural basic of top-down modulation in visual perception. Perception process has been showed to work in a spatially distributed cortical network including the subcortical structures and primary visual cortex. Early visual areas do more than encoding raw sensory signals, but they also participate in processing activities corresponding to a visual perception. Researches indicate that neural activation of top-down modulation is modulated by expertise, selective attention, mental imagery and even emotion. Methods which were usually used in past researches are also included in this review. Both of the figure-ground segregation paradigm and degraded paradigms are applied to realize the functional dissociation. And it is essential that feedforward and feedback modulation components are independently stimulated or inactivated. To provide more detailed insights, we highlighted the models interpretative of perception modulation function. (1)Attention modulation model posit that feedback to primary visual cortex modulates, tunes, or anticipates the bottom-up response to visual stimuli through selective attention. Top-down attention modulation is crucial for elucidating the mechanisms by which we can filter sensory information by paying attentions to the most behaviorally relevant events. (2)The competition between the learning of new objects and the recognition of old objects is conceptualized in the Adaptive Resonance Theory , in the case that the internal model explains well the sensory stimulation, the neuronal responses are enhanced and such recurrent enhancement is believed to lead to conscious recognition. (3) A more complex account of cortical feedback modulation is provided by the hierarchical predictive coding model. Perception processing is provided by the idea that predicted signals will depend on whether afferent sensory signals are determined. This model propose a matching inhibition mechanism, correctly predicted bottom-up signals are cancelled from further processing, or attenuated. (4) However, there are many instances where top-down projections might contribute to V1 activation even in the absence of any stimulation, so here comes the baseline activity theory and the global neuronal workspace model, proposing that there are other computational spaces in the brain which could distinguish top-down modulation from the local processors by their reciprocal long-range anatomical interconnection. Spontaneous baseline activity is another instance of stimulus-unrelated processing in primary cortex which may be a form of top-down modulation. At last, we discussed the theoretical constraints and the future research orientations. Recurrent interactions between higher and lower visual areas allow high-level neurons in the present model to express different modes of information in their firing patterns. More elaborately paradigm and precise date analysis methods are promoted。 Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Cognitive and Neural Mechanism of Language Switch 2015, 38(1): 98-103.  Abstract ( )   PDF (922KB) ( )   The asymmetry of language switch cost has been the focus in the filed of language switch. Previous studies found that the switching cost is symmetrical in proficient bilinguals, but asymmetrical in less proficient bilinguals. Therefore, some researchers augured that language switch cost is affected by L2 proficiency. However, others proposed that inhibitory control is the real cause of language switch cost. In short, many models have been proposed to explain this linguistic phenomenon from different perspectives. Inhibitory control model and language-specific selection model are two classical theories. The former holds that lexical selection in the two languages are realized through the practice of inhibition, the degree of inhibition leads to symmetrical or asymmetrical language switch cost. On the contrary, the latter insists that language switch cost is modulated by L2 proficiency. In addition, other models are attempting to explain the two classical theories from different angles. Task-set inertia model is consistent with inhibitory control model, both of which claim that inhibitory control plays a key role in language switch. Furthermore, sequential difficulty effect model emphasizes language proficiency, which is in line with language-specific selection model. Therefore, no agreement has been reached yet on the asymmetry of language switch cost. Cognitive neuroscience studies on inhibitory control and L2 proficiency have revealed the neural mechanisms of language switch. The fMRI studies on less proficient bilinguals showed that language switch activated the right prefrontal cortex (rPFC), which reflects the role of inhibitory control, indicating that less proficient bilinguals need to rely on inhibitory mechanism to complete language switch successfully, and supporting the inhibitory control model. Nevertheless, some studies on proficient bilinguals found that rPFC was not activated, so they believed that language proficiency may modulate the symmetry of language switch cost, and that language-specific selection model was correct. Moreover, cognitive neuroscience studies found that prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left caudate nucleus were activated in language switch and task switch, indicating that the cost of language switch and task switch might be identical to some extent. Future research directions on language switch were pointed out in this paper. Specifically, (1) How do inhibition and language proficiency affect language switch? If the language switch cost was symmetrical for high inhibitory control of less proficient bilinguals and proficient bilinguals, inhibitory control will be the real reason for language switch cost. If the language switch cost in proficient bilinguals was symmetrical, and asymmetrical for high inhibitory control of non-proficient bilinguals, L2 proficiency will be an important factor for language switch cost. (2) Are language switch cost and task switch cost the same nature? If the patterns of proficient and less proficient bilinguals in language switch cost and task switch cost are parallel, then the nature of the two tasks will be the same. If the language switch cost in proficient and less proficient bilinguals differs from task switch cost, language switch cost will at least be specific. (3) Can the inhibitory mechanism of domain-general task switch be generalized to language switch? If language switch cost in non-proficient bilinguals was symmetrical after training, domain-general inhibitory training could be generalized to language switch. Otherwise, L2 proficiency will be the key factor to language switch cost. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

ERP effects on the spatial scale of visual attention without spatial cue 2015, 38(1): 48-53.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1067KB) ( )   Researchers investigated the resource allocation of the spatial scale of visual attention in using the classic 'cue-target' paradigm that was adopted in order to enable subjects to identify a target. Behavioral result showed that target detection in attended areas is facilitated by the cue to target location. Electrophysiological data indicated that the early ERP components of P1 and N1 are probably related to the processing of the spatial scale in visual attention. Here, it should be noted that the effect on the spatial scale of visual attention without spatial cue remains unclear. Using the experimental paradigm of 'without spatial cue', this study investigated electrophysiological correlates of the resource allocation within the different spatial scale of visual attention. Event-related brain potentials were recorded for the appearance of target stimuli with which participants were required to respond quickly to the incoming stimuli during three conditions (visual angles of diameter were 3.2°, 6.4°, and 9.6°) of spatial position that the target stimuli appeared randomly. Additionally, the 'warning'(without any hint on the spatial information) is just remind the participants that the target stimuli might be appeared after an interval with a randomly varying duration between 0.8 and 1.2 s. As paid volunteers, seventeen healthy undergraduates (8 males and 9 females, age 21-26, M=24.3 years) were recruited to take part to this study. The participants in the experiment were all right-hand, had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and had no neurological or psychological disorders. This study was approved by the local ethics committee, and all participants signed an informed consent form prior to their inclusion in the experiment. The behavioral data showed that the mean reaction times (RTs) of detecting the target stimuli for the three spatial positions were 3.2° (M=494ms, SD=64), 6.4°(M=518ms, SD=72), and 9.6°(M=552ms, SD=74). The repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) indicated that mean RTs were shorter for 9.6°than for 3.2°(p<0.0001) and 6.4°(p<0.0001), and mean RTs of 6.4° were also shorter than the case of 3.2°, which indicates that the RTs on detecting a stimulus in unfixed position decreased significantly with the increase of visual angle. ERP results indicated that the N1 amplitude was higher for 3.2°(M= -5.622 ?V, SE=0.927) and 6.4°(M= -5.209 ?V, SE=0.855) than for 9.6°(M= -4.592 ?V, SE=0.808) between 160 and 200 ms after onset of the target stimuli. However, the N1 component elicited by 3.2° and 6.4° was not significantly different. Subsequently, a more positive event-related potential deflection during 3.2°(M= 5.251?V, SE=0.864) and 6.4°(M= 4.389?V, SE=0.720) than during the 9.6°(M= 2.758?V, SE=0.728) in the 350- 400 ms time window. Moreover, 3.2° elicited a more positive event-related potential deflection (P3) than did 6.4°during the same interval. It is obvious that the ERPs amplitude of N1 and P3 components evoked by target stimuli increased with the reduction of visual angle, which provides the similar model of the behavioral data (e.g., RTs). The N1component is related to the discrimination of the target stimuli appeared at the attended area, and the amplitude P3 component is suggested to reflect mental resource allocation during the processing of stimulus (e.g., larger amplitude is related to greater allocation of resources). Therefore, this study observed a clear ERPs effect under the case of non-cue of the spatial information of the target stimuli, most likely reflects the allocation of attention on the spatial scale adopted the means of selective pattern automatically. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Acute Stress Interference Effect on Working Memory Depends on Load: Electrophysiological Evidences 2015, 38(1): 42-47.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1097KB) ( )   Previous studies have shown that the effect of emotional distractor on working memory (WM) is mixed. In neuroimaging studies, the activity of fronto-parietal cortex related to WM is reduced when emotional distractor presented. In EEG studies, the parietal P3 component is related to WM process. However, the acute stress effect on WM related P3 component is still unclear. To this end, we conducted an EEG study by implementing an working memory paradigm to examine how the acute stress affects ongoing working memory processing. In this paradigm, acute stress/neutral movie clips were used to induce stress status. Participants performed an N-back task with sequentially presented number, in which they were asked to identify whether the current number is identical with the one presented two trials before (i.e., 2-back, higher WM load) or with 1 (0-back, lower WM load). The heart beats and subjective feeling were recorded for emotional mood measurement. The heart beats and negative emotional feeling were significantly higher in the stress group compare to neutral group, which suggests successfully acute stress induction. The amplitude of parietal P3 was significantly bigger in the 0-back condition than in the 2-back condition. These results were consistent with previous EEG studies using N-back task, which have shown that the smaller P3 in high WM load condition. Furthermore, compare to the neutral condition, the acute stress has stronger effect on P3 in 0-back task than in 2-back task. These results can easily explained by the recently proposed dual competition model positing that emotional and cognitive processes, when operating simultaneously, compete with each other for limited neural resources. Specifically, processing of emotional stimuli may interfere with ongoing cognitive processes when cognitive resources are not entirely devoted to goal-directed processing under a lower task demanding condition, such as during the 0-back task in our study. When more resources are required to achieve goal-directed behavior such as in the 2-back WM task here, however, the interference effect is attenuated due to the suppression of stress processing. Together, these results suggest that P3 is a reliable marker for WM load in n-back task. Furthermore, these results provide direct evidence for the dual competition model. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Research on the Representativeness of the Anchor Items in Test Linking Meng YE 2015, 38(1): 209-215.  Abstract ( )   PDF (931KB) ( )   Practice in psychological and educational measurement often needs to use the technique of test linking to analyze the difference or trend of the examinees’ traits. When implementing test linking, we need to choose a data collection design. Among several designs, the Non-Equivalent Groups with Anchor Test (NEAT) design is the most frequently used one. With this design, the anchor items, the set of items shared by all the examinee groups, are unique carrier to achieve test linking. Given the importance of the anchor items, except for their parameters, what we must pay attention to is the relationship pattern of the anchor items and their related test forms/levels. This paper was aimed to explore the relationship pattern based upon a concept clarification and a literature review about the representativeness of the anchor items. First, it indicated that the meaning of the representativeness of the anchor items is different between the equating research field and the vertical scaling field, the two most important sub-areas of linking. In equating, it involves the statement that the anchor test be a “mini version” of the tests to be equated. In present, it is widely believed that the anchor used in equating should be constructed according to the same specification with the total test, including the content and statistic characteristics, to accurately reflect the group difference. In vertical scaling, with the grade-to-grade definition of growth which corresponds to the NEAT design, achievement growth is defined on the content in the test level(s) appropriate for the specific grade level(s). According to this growth definition, the anchor which serves as the way to quantify the growth should also come from the test level(s) appropriate for the specific grade level(s). Therefore, the representativeness of the anchor items in vertical scaling can be defined as the representativeness of the anchor items to test level(s) they are chosen from. It is worthy to note that the definitions of the representativeness of the anchor items do not necessarily mean that the anchor items should be a “mini version” of the test levels they are chosen from. That is why the representativeness of the anchor items is called a topic here rather than a property or nature in test linking. Based on the above statement, this paper examined the existing research on the representativeness of the anchor items in the fields of both equating and vertical scaling, summarized the results of the studies, and systematically analyzed the relationship pattern between the anchor items and the related test forms/levels in terms of the content, item format, and statistic characteristic. It revealed the following general results. (1) The content representativeness of the anchor items might be necessary in test linking, though some lack of representativeness can also get fine results. (2) When linking the test forms/levels composed of dichotomous items and polytomous items, the representativeness of the anchor items in item format is necessary. However, when linking the test forms/levels composed of discrete items and passage based items, the research in equating area indicated that only employing the discrete items might lead to better results. (3) With respect to the difficulty level of the anchor items, the researches in equating support the representativeness of the anchor items. (4) With respect to the difficulty range of the anchor items, the research in equating indicated that anchor with a difficulty range less than that of the total test might lead to better results than the mini anchor; however, the research in vertical scaling conformed the traditional view of the representativeness of the anchor items. Finally, this paper generalized the probably optimal proposal with respect to the current practice of construction of the anchor items and analyzed the future directions of the research on the representativeness of the anchor items. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

A coordinate-based meta-analysis in brain imaging study： Activation Likelihood Estimation Qin-Li DENG 2015, 38(1): 216-220.  Abstract ( )   PDF (952KB) ( )   With the increasing number of neuroimaging studies, researchers urgently need a way to compare and combine data from diverse studies. This article would review kinds of meta-analysis methods of brain imaging in the first place, and then introduce a coordinate-based technique which is widely used in neuroimaging studies — Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE). ALE meta-analysis involves modeling each activated foci as a possibility distribution rather than a single point, and then assesses ALE value by the empirical estimates. To differentiate true convergence of foci from random clustering, null hypothesis is applied: to obtain an ALE null distribution the same number of foci as in the real analysis. In recent years, with the development of brain imaging component analysis fields, the ALE meta-analysis also benefit from it. Activation likelihood estimation has been revisited several times, and approved by most researchers. Two of the most important corrections were multiple comparisons and the changing from "fixed effect analysis" to "random effects analysis". The ALE has several advantages. Firstly, the ability of combining data from diverse studies is essential for building consensus crossing studies. Secondly, the use of a theoretically founded significance threshold provides a means to defend the results statistically. Finally, it can be automated following extraction of relevant foci from the literature which can maximize the efficiency and objectivity. ALE meta-analysis has widely used in the field of functional neuroimaging in the last decades. Nevertheless, we still need to realize that no matter how objective the ALE is, it is not the end but a new beginning. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The relation of core interpersonal schema change, personality change and symptom reduction: a case study Qi-Wu SUN Guang-Rong JIANG rong tao 2015, 38(1): 221-228.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1207KB) ( )   The nature of psychotherapeutic change was traditionally viewed as personality change. However, in the field of process-outcome research, most studies reported symptom reduction instead of personality change. The proposed relationship between the change of personality variables (e.g., the irrational beliefs) and the symptom reduction (e.g., depression) was not fully tested. Under the framework of attachment theory, the current research intends to find the change process of core interpersonal schema, and the psychotherapeutic outcome assessed not only by symptom reduction, but also by personality change. Core interpersonal schema means the mental representation of self and other across close relationships. Though core interpersonal schema includes both cognitive and emotional elements, it specifically means the emotional response elicited by the recall of a significant figure. The measurement for representations of two or more than two close relationships would be better than measuring only one close relationship in predicting individual’s well-being. Based on this concept, My Feelings in Close Relationships (MFSR-12, Sun, 2011) was developed to measure emotional response elicited by significant figures. Theoretically, the negative emotional responses were the foundation of psychopathological personality structures and the overt symptoms, and the reduction of those negative emotional responses elicited by the significant figures was the exact process of personality change in efficient psychotherapy, accompanying with clinically observed personality change and symptom reduction. The relationships among core interpersonal schema, personality change and symptom reduction were illustrated by a clinical case, XiaoBei, who were initially diagnosed as depression personality disorder (SCID-II, First, Spitzer, Gibbon, &Williams, 1997) and bipolar depression II (SCID-CV, First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1996). My Feelings in Close Relationships (MFSR-12, Sun, 2011), Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200, Shedler & Westen, 1998) and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ45.2, Lambert,et.al.,2004) were administrated. Among them, MFSR-12 and SWAP-200 were tested twice, at the beginning stage and the ending stage respectively, and OQ45.2 was tested once per month. The results show that: (1) core interpersonal schema, personality change measured by SWAP-200, and symptom reduction were changed after 52-session psychotherapy; (2) The clinically significant personality change , symptom reduction and the improvement of the global function were observed, accompanying with small changes of core interpersonal schema; (3) The score of symptoms distress was significantly reduced while scores of interpersonal relation and social role keep relatively stable during the period of psychotherapy. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Neurodevelopmental Animal Model of Schizophrenia: Challenged by Poly I:C Prenatal Immunity 2015, 38(1): 229-236.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1184KB) ( )   Human epidemiological studies have provided compelling evidence that the risk of developing schizophrenia is enhanced by prenatal maternal infection with viral or bacterial pathogens. Recent experimentation in rodents has yielded additional support for a causal relationship between prenatal immune challenge and the emergence of psychosis-related abnormalities in brain and behavior in later life. Based on these associations, developing a reliable, predictive animal model of psychiatric disorder, such as schizophrenia, is essential for us to study the neurobiological mechanisms and for the development of novel drugs with improved therapeutic efficacy. Therefore the goal of the article was to review the contribution of prenatal immune challenge (PIC) in pregnant rodent models, especially the one using the viral-mimetic particle polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid (poly-I:C) to the study of etiology, biological basis and treatment of schizophrenia. Available web databases (PubMed and ISI web of science) for original studies published in the last 10 years (From 2003 to 2013) concerning animal model of PIC, focusing on inducing by poly-I:C were searched in the article. The neurodevelopmental model, challenged by the viral mimetic poly-I:C, not only exerts behavioral effects on sensorimotor gating deficits, latent inhibition disruption, impaired object recognition memory and social behavior dysfunction in adult rat offspring, but further produces effects of postpubertal emergence of enhanced sensitivity to MK-801 and amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion, all those effects are followed with morphofunctional alterations in the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex in adult offspring. Several gene expression changes related to the developmental course of dopaminergic neurons, including the sonic hedgehog (ShhN) and fibroblastic growth factor 8 (FGF-8), as well as transcription factors like nuclear receptor related 1 protein (Nurr1) and pituitary homeobox 3 (Pitx3) can also be confirmed in the neurodevelopmental model. The ShhN and FGF-8 genes, as well as the transcription factors Nurr1 and Pitx3, are essential for the generation, differentiation, and maintenance of midbrain dopamine (DA) cells during embryonic development. Besides that, chronic injection of antipsychotics (haloperidol and clozapine) or the antidepressant fluoxetine during periadolescence blocked the onset of psychotic symptoms in animals predisposed to schizophrenia by PIC. The PIC model challenged by the viral mimetic poly-I:C enables the study of antipsychotic drugs in a preventive (prenatal life and prodrome) and therapeutic approach. We thus conclude that the neurodevelopmental models of schizophrenia, challenged by the viral mimetic poly-I:C, are characterized by a high level of face, construct and predictive validity, including intrinsic etiological significance to the disorder. It is able to mimic the positive and negative/cognitive dimensions of schizophrenia, depending on the gestation time window of the administration of poly-I:C. The model resembles the neurobiology and etiology of schizophrenia and has good predictive value. In conclusion, this model is a robust tool for the identification of novel molecular targets during prenatal life, adolescence and adulthood that might contribute to the development of preventive and/or treatment strategies for schizophrenia, also presenting biosafety as compared to viral infection models. One limitation of this model is the incapacity to model the full spectrum of immune responses normally induced by viral exposure. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Influence of the University Students’ Entrepreneurial Alertness，Prior Knowledge and Entrepreneurial Experiences on Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition 2015, 38(1): 160-165.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1131KB) ( )   With 114 entrepreneurial students and 94 non-entrepreneurial university students as subjects and by collecting subjects’ reaction to self-made complex opportunity situation to investigate their opportunity recognition, the paper discusses the influence of university students’ entrepreneurial alertness, prior knowledge and entrepreneurial experiences on the opportunity recognition. The results showed that: 1 There is significant difference between two types of university students’ entrepreneurial alertness and prior knowledge; entrepreneurial students are significantly better than non-entrepreneurial university students. Students’ prior knowledge greatly influences the opportunity recognition; the entrepreneurial alertness of non-entrepreneurial students significantly influences the opportunity recognition, which shows that prior knowledge of university students influences the opportunity recognition via entrepreneurial alertness. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Relationship between Couple Problem Solving and Social Support, Attachment Security and Marital Quality 2015, 38(1): 179-184.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1299KB) ( )   Couple communication plays a crucial role in marriage life. Previous research mainly focused on the indicator of communication behavior to marital quality, less attention has been devoted to impact mechanism of the communication behavior on marital quality. Previous research indicated that attachment security were associated with couple communication, and also were associated with marital quality. The purpose of the present study was to explore the mechanism between couples’ observed communication behavior, attachment security and marital quality. To avoid shared covariance due to the methods, we used observational paradigm to catch couples communication behavior. The identified 41 newlyweds community couples were recruited by lab members, who contacted acquaintances to locate couples who met the eligibility criteria. Couples were visited in their homes by trained interviewers. After completing self-report measures, including Marriage Quality Index and Adult Attachment Scales, partners were reunited for four 10-min videotaped discussions, which including two problem solving tasks and two social support tasks. Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scale coding system was used to encoding couples interaction. The results revealed that couple’s positive behavior in problem solving can significantly positive predicted wives’ marital quality, and negative behavior in social support can significantly negative predicted husbands’ marital quality. Additionally, wives’ attachment security served to mediate the association between couple problem solving positive behavior and wife marital satisfaction, while the attachment security of husband didn’t play any role between couples’ communication behavior and husbands’ marital satisfaction. These findings suggested that communication behavior and attachment security have different impact mechanism on husbands and wives marital quality. And also, the present study was the first time to apply observational study paradigm in couple research, which open a new window for the methodology issue in this fields in China. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Effects Mechanism of Gender on Work-to-Family Conflict: An Empirical Study Based on the Social Role Theory 2015, 38(1): 191-195.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1022KB) ( )   Abstract According to the Social Role Theory, people have higher expectations on men’s work role while have higher expectations on women’s family role. Under such expectations, men and women form different attitudes to work role as well as family role (i.e. male may be more work focused). Yet, the conclusion of previous researches about the gender differences in work-to-family conflict are not consistent, which is due largely to the improper controlling of the confounding variables, such as job categories, positions, spouses’ work status, number of babies, et al. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate: ⑴ the effect of gender on the work-to-family conflict in the background of Chinese culture, under the proper control of some key confounding variables. ⑵ the mediating effects of the work centrality (the importance of work relative to family ) and segmentation supplies (a series of boundary management practices provided by the organizations that encourage their staff to keep work away from non-work domain) between gender and work-to-family conflict based on the Social Role Theory. Participants were 261 managerial staff (mean age = 39.5 years old, 155 male) from Shanghai an eastern province in mainland China. They were requested to complete the work centrality scale, the segmentation supplies scale and the work-to-family conflict scale (the time based subscale and strain based subscale) on the spot. The Bias Corrected Bootstrap Method in the PROCESS (loaded to SPSS) was used to test the research hypotheses. Having controlled some key confounding variables (i.e. age, marital status, spouses’ work status, number of babies, positions and tenure), the research showed: ⑴ gender (0=female, 1=male) could predict the work-to-family conflict based on strain with the total effect of .27 whose 95% confidence interval was [.06, .48]. The mediating effect of segmentation supplies was .11 (accounting for 40.74% of the total effect) whose 95% confidence interval was [.05, .21], meanwhile the mediating effect of work centrality was .08 (accounting for 29.63% of the total effect) whose 95% confidence interval was [.02, .16]. ⑵ gender could predict the work-to-family conflict based on time with the total effect of .58 whose 95% confidence interval was [.36, .81]. The mediating effect of segmentation supplies was .13 (accounting for 22.41% of the total effect) whose 95% confidence interval was [.06, .24], meanwhile the mediating effect of work centrality was .11 (accounting for 18.97% of the total effect) whose 95% confidence interval was [.03, .22]. In conclusion, men experience more work-to-family conflict compared with women, and there are multiple mediating effects of work centrality and segmentation supplies between gender and work-to-family conflict. This study not only reveals the specific process and influence mechanism of how gender affects the work-to-family conflict, but also encourages organizations to provide their male staff with more understanding and support to help them handle the work-to-family conflict. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

How to Make Apologies More Effective: the Effect of Regulatory Focus and information framing 2015, 38(1): 166-171.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1121KB) ( )   Apologies are useful social tools that can act as catalysts in the resolution of conflict and inspire forgiveness. Yet as numerous real-world blunders attest, apologies are not always effective. Social psychologists pay close attention to the issue that how to make apologies more effective, in order to restore the damaged relationship. Previous research examined the effectiveness of apologies by contrasting the effect of apology to non-apology. However, little attention has been focus on the motivational aspect of the effectiveness of apologies. One theory that incorporates these ideas and might assist in qualifying the relationship between information framing and the effectiveness is Higgins’ s regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997). This theory argues that individuals pursue one of two different types of self-regulatory goals: promotion-focused goals and prevention-focused goals. According to Higgins (2000), regulatory fit occurs when an individual uses strategic means or confronts with information framing congruent with his or her regulatory focus to some end. Fit between regulatory focus and information frame will strengthen individual’s evaluation on the information, as well as the affect and motivation. This is because when there is regulatory fit, the manner of goal pursuit feels right and increases the value of what a person is doing (Cesario, Grant & Higgins, 2004). Feeling right from regulatory fit produces a feeling of importance and correctness that can be transferred to evaluations of objects, including the framing of an apology. This research，using diverse methodologies and measures，were conducted to explore the role that self-regulatory focus of an injured party and framing of apologies of an offender plays in explaining the motivational process of an apology. Specifically, Study 1 created an interpersonal transgression situation in the lab, and a confederate acted offender and actually communicate with participants. Participants’ regulatory focus was manipulated through presenting different task framings. After the participants received either framing of apology, the researchers used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) paradigm to measure participants’ implicit and explicit appraisals to offenders. Findings showed that regulatory focus and information framing had a significant interaction. Further analysis indicated that the apologies framing which congruent with participant’s regulatory focus produced significantly more positive implicit and explicit appraisals to offenders. Study 2 primed either promotion focus or prevention focus of participants by instructing them to focus on their experience of aspirations or obligations, then presented the transgression scenarios and instructed participants to imagine themselves as the victims in the scenario. Finally the participant reported their inclination to avoid or revenge the offenders, as an index of the effectiveness of apologies. The result indicated that regulatory focus and information framing had a significant interaction on avoidance, whereas neither of the two variables have significant effect on revenge. Specifically speaking, when promotion-focused participants received a positive framing apology, or prevention-focused participants received a negative framing apology, participants reported significantly less avoidance towards offenders. The researches also discussed the mechanism of regulatory fit achieved by victims’ regulatory focus and offenders’ apology framing, namely, feeling right. The results showed that feeling-right mediated the relationship between the interaction of regulatory focus and apologies and avoidance. According to Higgins (2000), experiencing fit and the associated feelings of rightness provides an intuitive confirmation to one’s response to apology. Thus, regulatory fit would serve to confirm positive attitude individuals typically feel following the apologies, and improve their impression of offenders, consequently give more forgiveness, so as to make the apologies more effective. The present research suggests that regulatory focus theory can help inform the scientific study of apology and its motivational process between the involved parties. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Mechanism and Collaborative Facilitation in Collaborative Memory 2015, 38(1): 152-159.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1216KB) ( )   Abstract 　　　This study explored the the mechanism and collaborative facilitation in collaborative memory including two experiments. The first experiment investigated the influence of the size of the group and the patterns of retrieve to collaborative facilitation. The second experiment investigated the contribution of re-exposure and cross-cuing to collaborative facilitation. 　　　For the first experiment, a total of 336 undergraduates were randomly selected to participate in the present study. They were assigned to seven different conditions (individual group, pairs turn-taking collaborative recall, trios turn-taking collaborative recall, quartets turn-taking collaborative recall, pairs free-for-all collaborative recall, trios free-for-all collaborative recall, quartets free-for-all collaborative recall). Of these, 48 individuals were in each condition. Participants in this experiment studied a list comprising 8 categories. Instances were of low taxonomic frequency. Among of them, vegetables, fruit, trees and birds contained 6 instances, while animals, musical instruments, flowers and boats contained 7 instances. The experiment consisted of a 2 (retrieve patterns: free-for-all collaborative recall or turn-taking collaborative recall) × 3(group size: pairs, trios or quarters) between-participants design. Participants in individual group recalled individually. All participants studied the items individually. The items were presented one at a time for 4000ms each, with an interstimulus interval (ISI) of 250ms. Following the study, participants were asked to complete a 2-minutes mathematical calculate task to prevent rehearsal in short-term memory. Then participants were asked to recall the word either individually or in collaboration. After that, participants were asked to complete a 2-minutes mathematical game. Finally, all participants recalled the words individually. The results showed that no matter the group size is pairs, trios or quarters, retrieve pattern is free-for-all collaborative recall or turn-taking collaborative recall, the collaborative facilitation is present. Participates in the turn-taking group recalled more than those in the free-for-all group. The recall increased with the group size, and the participates in quarters recalled significantly greater than those in pairs and trios. 　　　In the second experiment , a total of 60 undergraduates were randomly selected. They were randomly divided in individual or collaborative group (pairs). There were 8 categories of low-frequency words, and each contained 7 instances. By installing an assistant, this study directly discussed the contribution of re-exposure and cross-cuing to collaborative facilitation. The assistant and a true subject recalled as a group. The assistant totally recalled eight words, each category one word. These eight words were studied but not recalled by the participants. The true subject recalled first for four minutes (i.e., reported all of his/her remembered), then the assistant continued to recall. If the subject came up with new word(s) while the assistant recalling, he or she also need to report. The experimenter recorded these response. The results suggested that re-exposure did contribute to collaborative facilitation, and greater than the role of cross-cuing. 　　　We have the following conclusions. No matter the group size is pairs, trios or quarters, retrieve pattern is free-for-all recall or turn-taking recall, the collaborative facilitation is present. The amount of collaborative facilitation of turn-taking recall is higher than free-for-all recall. The contribution of re-exposure to collaborative facilitation is greater than cross-cuing. 　　　 Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Case-unrelated Emotion and Case-related Emotion Influence Penalty Measurement Decision Making: An Experimental Research Jie Li 2015, 38(1): 196-202.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1063KB) ( )   An impartial judgment is the goal of judiciary. As natural people, whether judges’ emotions impact on measuring penalty or not and to what extent are the influences have been drawing attention from both public and academia. The study’s purpose was to examine the impact of specific case-unrelated emotion and case-related emotion on Judges’ penalty measurement decision making. In Experiment 1, 150 judges were recruited (8 excluded from data analysis). They were divided into 4 groups randomly, which were sadness group, happiness group, anger group and neutral emotion group. Firstly, They watched different movie clips which induced sadness, happiness, anger and neutral emotion seperately for 5minutes. Then they were asked to sentence two cases: one larceny case and one rape case. Finally, they reported their gender, age and working time. The results showed: (1) In larceny case, the effect of case-unrelated emotion was significant on Judges’ penalty measurement decision making, F（3,138）=4.731，p<.05. Judges with sadness emotion （M=2.31，SD=0.97）sentenced shorter than neutral emotion（M=2.86，SD=0.96）, anger emotion（M=3.10，SD=0.69）and happiness emotion（M=3.00，SD=1.20）. In rape case, the effect of case-unrelated emotion was also significant, F（3,138）=2.937，p<.05. Judges with sadness emotion（M=3.30，SD=0.52）sentenced shorter than neutral emotion（M=3.78， SD=1.20）, anger emotion（M=3.96，SD=0.96）and happiness emotion（M=3.84，SD=1.27）. (2) The effect of gender and working time was not significant on Judges’ penalty measurement decision making. (3) The effect of gender and working time was not significant on case-unrelated emotion elicitation. In Experiment 2, 142 judges were recruited (7 excluded from data analysis). They were divided into 3 groups randomly, which were sympathy group, disgust group and rage group. These 3 different groups recevied different questionnares. Each questionnare contains 2 larceny cases and 2 rape cases. The first larceny case and the first rape case were used to induce none emotion, and the second larceny case and rape case were used to induce specific case-related emotion (sympathy, disgust and rage). Judges were asked to sentence these 4 cases. Finally, they reported their gender, age and working time. The results showed: (1) In larceny case, the effect of case-related emotion was significant on Judges’ penalty measurement decision making, F（2,130）=32.905，p<.01. Judges with sympathy emotion （M=2.43，SD=0.13）sentenced shorter than disgust emotion（M=3.76，SD=0.14）and rage emotion（M=3.72，SD=0.13）. In rape case, the effect of case-related emotion was significant on Judges’ penalty measurement decision making, F（2,131）=58.155，p<.01. Judges with sympathy emotion （M=3.12，SD=0.20）sentenced shorter than disgust emotion（M=5.27，SD=0.21）and rage emotion（M=6.10，SD=0.19）. Judges with rage emotion sentenced longer than disgust emotion. (2) The effect of gender and working time was not significant on Judges’ penalty measurement decision making. (3) The effect of gender and working time was not significant on case-related emotion elicitation. Taken together, these findings suggest that case-unrelated emotion and case-related emotion can influence judges on penalty measurement decision making. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Prosocial Behaviors in Emergencies: Mating Motive Change Men and Women’s Heroic Helping Tendencies Differently 2015, 38(1): 172-178.  Abstract ( )   PDF (979KB) ( )   It has been well documented that men are much more likely to provide heroic helping in emergencies (Johnson, 1996). However, such heroic helping disobeys the theory of evolution (Darwin, 1871). Research investigated charitable donations suggested that public prosocial behaviors may be considered as a costly signaling behavior, serving the function of displaying one’s wealth and generosity, with the ultimate goal of attracting potential mates (Griskevicius et al., 2007). Although heroic helping meets the four criterion of costly signaling behavior, yet there is no direct evidence supporting the notion that heroic helping, like public charity, also serves the function of attracting potential mates. The present study directly testing this possibility by examining the effect of mating motivation on men and women’s heroic helping in emergent situations The present study used a 2 (gender: male vs. female) ×2 (mating motivation induction vs. control condition) study design, participants ( N= 196, 90 males and 106 females; Mage=22.36，SD = 2.89) were randomly assigned to the mating condition and control condition. Following previous studies (Durante, 2009; Griskevicius et al., 2007; Roney, 2003; M. Wilson & Daly, 2004; Hill & Durante, 2011), mating motivation was induced by photographs of highly attractive opposite sex, which is an well established methodology in this field. Then, heroic helping tendencies were measured by the questionnaire of Griskevicius et al.,(2007), which consisted of five emergent situations. Participants’ risk taking tendencies on financial decisions were also measured by a 10 item questionnaire developed by Liu (2010). The total scores of each of these two questionnaires served as the dependent variables. The results of the experiments showed that there was a significant interaction between gender and mating priming on heroic behaviors: after mating motivation induction, male participants showed higher intentions of heroic helping, whereas female participants showed lower intentions of heroic helping. The present study also replicate pasting findings (McAlvanah, 2009; Li & Zhang, 2010)regarding the effect of mating motivation priming on financial risk taking: mating motivation induction increased risk taking tendency in financial decisions, males tend to be more risk seeking in making financial decisions, and there was no significant interaction between gender and mating priming on financial risk taking decisions. Results from the financial decisions further confirmed the representativeness of the sample recruited in the current study and further validated the results on heroic behaviors. Based on Costly Signaling Theory (Smith & Bird, 2001), these results concur with the hypotheses that heroic behaviors serve the function of displaying men’s advantages, such as vigor and responsibility, to potential mates and winning the intersexual selection (Farthing, 2005; Kelly & Dunbar, 2001). However, for women, the high-risk of heroic behaviors entails potential harm to their offspring and is unattractive to men (Taylor et al., 2000). Thus, after eliciting the mating motivation, women would avoid the risk and reduce their intentions to offer heroic helping in emergencies. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Achievement Motivation as predictors of Psychological Well-Being in college students 2015, 38(1): 203-208.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1190KB) ( )   Previous studies showed that achievement motivation greatly affects how a person feels and behaves. Literature has focused mostly on subjective well-being, and only a few studies have centered on psychological well-being, especially on the important relationship between fulfilling what one needs and what goals one pursues. Hence, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of achievement motivation on the psychological well-being of college students. Using random sampling, 214 college students were recruited from 3 universities. All students were assessed by using the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS) and Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS). The PWBS is made up of six subscales, namely, Autonomy (AU), Environmental Mastery (EM), Personal Growth (PG), Positive Relationships with Others (PR), Purpose in Life (PL), and Self-Acceptance (SA). The AMS consists of two subscales, which are motive to avoid failure and motive to pursue success. We investigated the relationships between achievement motivation with its two elements and psychological well-being (PWB) with its six elements. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance, independent-samples T test and relative importance analyses. As motive to avoid failure showed significantly negatively correlated with motive to pursue success, hierarchical regression analysis is not proper. Instead, we use relative importance analyses to determine relative importance of the two factors of achievement motivation (motive to avoid failure and motive to pursue success). Results showed that the main effect of the student category between junior college school and undergraduate students was significant (F=5.01, P< .05, η2= .02, 1－β= .606). The main effect of sex difference was not significant (F= .32, P= .08> .05), nor was the interaction between student category and sex difference (F=2.14, P= .14> .05). However, the PWB of undergraduates rated higher than that of junior college school students (t=2.08, P= .03< .05), especially in the three factors of PL (t=2.07, P= .03< .05), SA (t=2.00, P= .04< .05), and EM (t=2.31, P= .02< .05). Importantly, the score of achievement motivation was positively correlated with PWB (r= .55, P< .001) and the six factors (r= .42, .28, .49, .41, .49, .57; Ps< .001). Additionally, motive to avoid failure was negatively correlated with PWB (r=﹣.55，P< .001), and motive to pursue success was positively correlated with PWB (r= .31; P< .001). To determine the relative importance of the two factors of achievement motivation (motive to avoid failure and motive to pursue success) when predicting PWB and its six factors, we calculated their relative importance weights. Both motive to avoid failure and motive to pursue success could significantly predict PWB. However, the relative importance weights of motive to avoid failure (80%) were stronger than motive to pursue success (16.7%). The results suggested that when predicting PWB and its six factors, the relative importance of motive to avoid failure was stronger than motive to pursue success. In conclusion, our study showed that achievement motivation can predict psychological well-being and the relative importance of motive to avoid failure is stronger than motive to pursue success when predicting PWB and its six factors. This article, therefore, broadens what we know about well-being. 214 college students were recruited from 3 universities by random sampling. All the students were assessed with the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS) and Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS). The Psychological Well-Being Scale is made up of six subscales: Autonomy (AU), Environmental Mastery (EM), Personal Growth (PG), Positive Relationships with Others (PR), Purpose in Life (PL), and Self-Acceptance (SA). And, the Achievement Motivation Scale consists of two subscales: motive to avoid failure and motive to pursue success. The relationship between achievement motivation and psychological well-being were investigated, including the subscales of the two questionnaires. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance, independent-samples T test and multiple regressions. For the purpose of excluding the weak influence of student category, we use hierarchical regression analysis. And at the same time, we use stepwise regression analysis in order to analyses the difference of the predictive value on psychological well-being (PWB) between motive to avoid failure and motive to success. Results showed that the main effect of student category between junior college school and undergraduate students was significant (F=5.01, P<0.05, η2=0.023, 1-β=0.606). The main effect of sex difference was not significantly (F=0.32, P=0.087>0,05), nor the interaction between student category and sex difference (F=2.14, P=0.145>0.05). But the psychological well-being (PWB) of undergraduates was scored higher than the junior college school students (t=2.08, P=0.039<0.05), especially in the three factors: Purpose in Life (PL) (t=2.07, P=0.039<0.05), Self-Acceptance (SA) (t=2.00, P=0.046<0.05) and Environmental Mastery (EM) (t=2.31, P=0.022<0.05). More importantly, the score of achievement motivation was positively correlated with psychological well-being (PWB) (r=0.55, P<0.001) and the six factors (r=0.42, 0.28, 0.49, 0.41, 0.49, 0.57; Ps<0.001). Additionally, motive to avoid failure was negatively correlated with psychological well-being (PWB) (r=-0.55，P<0.001), and, motive to pursue success was positively correlated with psychological well-being (PWB) (r=0.31; P<0.001). In order to determine the relative importance of the two factors of achievement motivation (motive to avoid failure and motive to success) when predicting Psychological well-being and it’s six factors, we calculated the relative importance weights of them. Both of motive to avoid failure and motive to success could significantly predict psychological well-being(PWB). However，the relative importance weights of motive to avoid failure (80%) is stronger than motive to pursue success(16.7%). The results suggested that when predicting Psychological well-being and it’s six factors, the relative importance of motive to avoid failure was stronger than motive to success . In conclusion, our study showed that achievement motivation can predict psychological well-being and the relative importance of motive to avoid failure is stronger than motive to success when predicting both psychological well-being (PWB) and its six factors. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Impact of Mental Stimulation on Consumer Purchase Intention towards Self-development Culture products 2015, 38(1): 185-190.  Abstract ( )   PDF (923KB) ( )   This research examined that whether consumer mindset is process-focused or outcome-focused would influence their purchase intention of self-development culture products. The study found that compared with process-focused consumer, outcome-focused consumer had higher purchase intention of self-development culture products. Meanwhile, we found that temporal distance moderates the effect. Under distant future condition consumers’ mindsets would influence the purchase intention of self-development culture products, while under proximal future condition consumers’ mindset would not influence their purchase intention. Furthermore, the research explored that consumers’ future time perspective mediates the effect under distance future condition. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Age Differences in Personality Traits From 15 to 75: Big Five Domains and 10 Facets in a Large Cross-Sectional Sample in Chinese 2015, 38(1): 131-138.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1875KB) ( )   Age-related differences in personality have captured human attention for centuries. For instance. Developmentally oriented research has painted a picture of both stability and change in personality traits across the life span. Nonetheless, there are still some questions about the development of core personality dispositions like those captured by the Big Five domains, such as the universality and particularity of personality development. In this article, we pursue a partial answer to this question by testing for age-related differences in mean levels of the Big Five traits in a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of Chinese. These analyses are particularly informative given that very few studies have examined age differences in representative samples that cover substantial periods of the life span. In addition, we examine age differences in specific personality adjectives linked to the Big Five to identify whether narrower aspects of personality show similar patterns of age differences as do their respective Big Five traits. This study used cross-sectional investigation method to determine the patterns of mean-level change in Chinese big five personality traits across the life course. In this study, Cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits were examined in a nationally representative sample of Chinese (N =3426; ages range from 15 to 75). We further analyzed the patterns of mean-level change in Chinese big five personality traits and 10 specific facet traits across the life course. The results of the study showed that for people under the age of 60, the older individuals had lower mean-level of neuroticism, however, for people aged 60 or older, the older individuals had higher mean-level of neuroticism; for people under the age of 50, the older individuals had lower mean-level of extraversion, however, for people aged 60 or older, the older individuals had higher mean-level of extraversion; on the whole, the older individuals had lower mean-level of openness; on the whole, the older individuals had higher mean-level of agreeableness; and on the whole, the older individuals had higher mean-level of conscientiousness. On the whole, the middle-aged adults had higher mean-level of conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion than young adulthood and old people; and the middle-aged adults had lower mean-level of neuroticism and openness than young adulthood and old people. Correlation analysis results show that age was negatively related with mean levels of neuroticism, anxiety, depression, activity, openness to experience, aesthetics and ideas, and positively related with mean levels of extraversion, assertiveness, altruism, compliance, order and self-discipline. There were significant main effect of gender on mean levels of big five personality traits. Such as man had lower mean-level of neuroticism than woman; and men over the age of 50 have higher mean-level of Conscientiousness than y woman over the age of 50. In conclusion, the present research comprehensive analyzed the development trajectories of Chinese big five personality. It contributes to our understanding of the patterns of mean-level change in Chinese big five personality traits across the life course. These findings provide an important step in the classification and understanding of the development trajectories of Chinese big five personality traits. And these results also provide some empirical evidences sinicization research and cross-cultural comparison. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

A longitudinal study on the effect of interpersonal self-support traits on emotion regulation among undergraduate students 2015, 38(1): 116-122.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1224KB) ( )   Although personality is regarded as an influence factor on the using and development of emotion regulation strategies, to date most studies with respect to the relationship between personality and emotion regulation strategies are cross–sectional surveys. Especially, limited study tests the effect of personality trait on two widely studied emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression). Thus, the current study explores the effect of personality trait on cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression through a longitudinal study, using a Chinese personality construct—interpersonal self–support. A series of previous studies support that interpersonal self–support is related to emotion. For example, interpersonal self–support is a protective factor against emotional symptoms. Further, some interpersonal self–support traits such as interpersonal independence, interpersonal initiative and interpersonal flexibility are assumed to influence cognitive reappraisal or/and expressive suppression. The Interpersonal Self–Support Scale for Adolescent Students (ISSS–AS) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were administrated to undergraduate students twice with 6 months interval. The participants were recruited from three universities in China. All participants were tested in groups in classroom settings. After informed consent, a battery of questionnaires was administrated to 410 students at time 1. Six month later (time 2), 374 of the 410 students completed these questionnaires again. The sample consisted of 87 males and 287 females, aged from 17 to 24. Correlation analysis showed that the scores of interpersonal initiative and interpersonal flexibility were significantly associated with cognitive reappraisal in the surveys. According to hypotheses, a path analysis via structural equation modeling with respect to interpersonal self–support traits predicting cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression was constructed. The results showed that the paths from interpersonal initiative (p<.05) and interpersonal flexibility (p<.01) to cognitive reappraisal were significant. After deleting all non-significant paths, the final model was obtained. The results of the present study showed that interpersonal initiative and interpersonal flexibility predicted cognitive reappraisal 6 months later, even after controlling prior levels of cognitive reappraisal and the other interpersonal self–support traits. The results were consistent with prior cross–sectional surveys with regard to the relationship between extrovert and cognitive reappraisal. However, the predictive effects of interpersonal self–support traits on emotion suppression were not found. These results partly supported our hypotheses and suggested that certain personality trait may impact the using of a certain strategy of emotion regulation. Thus, the specific relationship between a trait and an emotion regulation strategy warrants explore in future. To our knowledge, this is the first try to explore the longitudinal relationship between personality and cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Consequently, the present study may make a unique contribution on the causal relationship between personality traits and emotion regulation. In addition, as far as we know, no trait similar to interpersonal flexibility was found to be related to cognitive reappraisal. Interpersonal flexibility may be an important trait which influences cognitive reappraisal for Chinese people. Positive emotional dispositions may be one of the emotional mechanisms underlying the effects of interpersonal initiative and interpersonal flexibility on cognitive reappraisal. Our prior studies suggested that interpersonal initiative and interpersonal flexibility may refer to positive emotional disposition. The positive emotional disposition may lead people with high interpersonal initiative and high interpersonal flexibility to using positive emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal to maintain positive feeling. Relational schema may be one of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the predictive relationship from interpersonal initiative and interpersonal flexibility to cognitive reappraisal. Relational schemas are regarded as cognitive units of interpersonal self-support. Relational schemas influence the interpersonal information processing, which may in turn impact the cognitive reappraisal of interpersonal events. In addition, high interpersonal flexibility individuals may be good at adjusting the appraisal on interpersonal events, thus they trend to use cognitive reappraisal strategy to adjust their feeling when they are confronted with emotional events. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Adolescents’ Interpersonal Competence, Social Inferiority and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Social Adaptiveness Yong-Xin Li 2015, 38(1): 109-115.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1289KB) ( )   Abstract Recent studies suggest that the surface personality traits mediate the basic personality traits and the performances. The surface personality traits are referred to as surface behaviors, described as individual differences in tendencies to behave within specific situational contexts. Compared with surface traits, the basic personality traits are enduring dispositions which are indicative of prevailing behaviors in a range of situations. As psychologists have long been interested in the role of Interpersonal Competence in adolescents’ mental health and interpersonal interaction, the present study explore the proposed relationships by adopting a hierarchical approach to Interpersonal Competence as a basic personality trait or independent variable, Social Adaptiveness as a surface personality trait or mediator, and Social Inferiority and Mental Health as dependent variables respectively. What’s more, the relation between Social Inferiority and Mental Health is also be examined. In addition to the three subscales of the YG, namely Lack of Objectivity, Lack of Cooperativeness, Aggressiveness, the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire(ICQ), the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Adolescents’ Social Inferiority Scale were presented to the 841 middle school student subjects, who were from grade 7 through 12 and selected by stratified sampling. The Anderson & Gerbing(1988)’s Two-step Approach to Structural Equation Modeling, the bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap method and the Multi-group Structural Equation Modeling were applied to analysis the data. Firstly，in accordance with expectations, the results showed that 1) Interpersonal Competence was a significant predictor of Social Adaptiveness (β=-.193，t=-4.007**)， Social Inferiority(β=-.167，t=-4.333**), and Mental Health(β=-.354，t=-8.980**); 2) Social Adaptiveness was a significant predictor of Social Inferiority (β=.298，t=6.389**) and Mental Health(β=.544，t=10.277**). So，what could be concluded was that Social Adaptiveness could mediate the relationship between Interpersonal Competence and Adolescents’ Social Inferiority，and the relationship between Interpersonal Competence and Mental Health, respectively. It was surprising that there was no significant relation between Adolescents’ Social Inferiority and their Mental Health (β=.054，t=1.663). Secondly，the bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap method was carried out to reveal the mediation of Social Adaptiveness on the relationships between Interpersonal Competence and Adolescents’ Social Inferiority. The results of the means of 1000 resamples showed that there was partial mediation as the 95% confidence interval was[-.097，-.024]，and the mediator effect was .344 with the 95% confidence interval being [.134, .554]. In the same way, the bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap method was carried out to reveal the mediation of Social Adaptiveness on the relationships between Interpersonal Competence and Mental Health. The results of the means of 1000 resamples showed that there was partial mediation as the 95% confidence interval was[-.177, -.055]，and the mediator effect was .297 with the 95% confidence interval being [.048, .546]. Lastly, the Multi-group Structural Equation Modeling showed there was multi-group invariance among 2 samples (the ECVI value of the unconstrained model was .257, the ECVI value of the measurement weights model was .252, the ECVI value of the structural covariances model was .256, and the ECVI value of the measurement residuals model was .318). These findings indicated that for secondary school students, Interpersonal Competence had effect both on Social Inferiority and on Mental Health, and the effect was partially mediated by Social Adaptiveness. But their Social Inferiority wound not necessarily result in their Mental Health problem because there was no significant relation between these two variables. Future studies, using different health behaviors and experimental designs, could firmly find the role of Interpersonal Competence and Social Adaptiveness in the social behaviors and they thus should become the routine targets for the interventions. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Common and Distinct Cognitive Processes Underlying Chinese Logogriphs and Remote Associate Test 2015, 38(1): 139-145.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1464KB) ( )   Cognitive insight phenomenon is one of the core components of creativity. Depending on brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or electrophysiological measures such as event-related potentials (ERPs), in the past ten years, neural correlates study of insight has been developed rapidly. During the time, numerous valuable studies have adopted RAT (CRAT) or Chinese logogriph to explore the neural basis of insight problem solving. Although the two style tests have been viewed as excellent materials, most studies using RAT or logogriph fail to report consistent findings. Inconsistent findings may come from different analysis method, experimental paradigm or other control variable. We think that the two style test based different cultures may have similar cognitive process, but distinct cognitive component would be existed in the two style cognitive insight. To explore the common and distinct cognitive component underlying logogriph and remote associate test, we selected Chinese remote associates test (RAT) and logogriph of Chinese characters as the materials and adopted spontaneous insight within-task comparison paradigm in the study. Fourteen participants (6 males) were recruited in the ERP experiment. Each trial began with a central fixation cross for 500ms, and then the insight questions (logogriph or RAT) was presented in the center of screen for 10 sec. Participants were instructed to try to work out the solution to the question within this 10ms. After a 500ms fixation cross, the possible answer or solution to the question was then presented in the center of the screen for 3 sec, followed by a random interval ranging from 300 to 500ms. Participants were required to press the “1” or “2” key of number keyboard to indicate whether they got the right answers. If they think of the answer but it might not be correct, they were asked to press “1” key with their index finger of right hand; if they did not think of a answer, they do not need to press any key. When the right answer was displayed on the screen, they were required to press “1” key if their own answer were consistent to the right answer; if their own answer were not consistent to the right answer, they were asked to press “2” key. In the present study, we mainly forced on the correct reaction, which the participants guessed an answer and it was consistent with the subsequent correct answer. So the dependent variables including accurate rate and right reaction time. Behavioral data showed that logogriph problems were more difficult for subjects to solve, compared to solving RAT, F(1,13)=8.40, p<0.001, the average number of problems that subjects solved successfully for logogriph, RAT were 32±6、48±6, respectively. However, there were no differences between logogriph (RT(logogriph)=4273±367ms) and RAT(RT(RAT)=4198±737ms) across mean right RTs ( F(1,13)=0.72, p>0.05),which indicated that both of insight problems right RTs were consistent. ERP waveform analysis revealed that the anterior P170 were elicited by logogriph and RAT, there were no main effects of task type for amplitudes of the component. Successfully solving logogriph elicited a more positive defection (P650) than RAT responses did in 600~700ms, but there was no significant difference among the two responses in -1600~-1000ms with the baseline prior-response 200 ms. It is remarkable that successfully solving logogriph elicited a more positive defection than RAT responses did in -1000~-300 ms, and voltage maps of the difference waves (logogriph–RAT) showed strong activity in the right frontal regions. These results imply that two style problems have common cognitive components in the whole cognitive insight, but in restructuring stage and Aha experience stage, both of the cognitive components have relative differences. We inferred that the different of feeling of suddenness may result from inconsistent restructuring. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Same Increment of Virtual Sample Lead to Different Increment of Causal Strength Estimate YanLing LIU Shui-Ping CHEN 2015, 38(1): 146-151.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1292KB) ( )   Liljeholm & Cheng(2009) figured out that virtual sample can predict participant’s causal inference on contingency with Power-PC>0 but had no ideal about weather the virtual sample can also predict causal inference on contingency with Power-PC=0 and weather the same increment of virtual sample lead to the same increment of causal judgment. The paper conducted a experiment to probe the influence of the same increment of virtual sample on causal strength estimate on contingency with Power-PC=0 and Power-PC>0. 84 participants served in experiment adopted summer format contingency. Experiment design by 2(causal direction: generate, prevent)x2(exact sample:16, 64)x3(Power-PC: 0, .50, 1)x4(virtual sample: 12.5%, 50%, 87.5%, 100%) repeated measure, causal direction varied between subjects and other three factors varied within subjects. Three levels of virtual sample, 12.5%, 50% and 87.5%, was designed to test the influence of the same increment of virtual sample, and three levels of Power-PC, 0, .50 and 1, was designed to test participant’s causal strength estimate on contingency with Power-PC=0 and Power-PC>0. Experiment material is a booklet include 1 exercise contingency to make sure that participant understand experiment task and 24 randomly arranged experiment contingencies to obtain participant’s causal strength estimate. Participant gave their strength estimate under each contingency. Results show that: a) participant’s strength estimate change in the same way with virtual sample size for contingency with Power-PC=1 and .50, but in the opposite direction with virtual sample size for contingency with Power-PC=0; b) the strength estimate change significantly for contingency with Power-PC=.50 and 1 when virtual sample change from 12.5% to 50% or from 50% to 87.5%, but change significantly for contingency with Power-PC=0 only when virtual sample change from 50% to 87.5%, the increment of strength estimate induced by virtual sample change from 12.5% to 50% is bigger than(equal to) the increment of strength estimate induced by virtual sample change from 50% to 87.5% for contingency with Power-PC=1(.50). It seem that virtual sample play a steadily role in participant’s strength estimate, the same increment of virtual sample lead to different increment of strength estimate and different change trend of strength estimate on contingency with different Power-PC. However, these results share the same theory implication: high virtual sample lead participant’s causal inference to Power-PC model’s prediction, which been deemed to maximum likelihood estimation of strength estimate. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Daily hassles and Psychological Adjustment among freshmen: the Moderating Effect of Meaning in Life 2015, 38(1): 123-130.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1493KB) ( )   Perceived stress is proved to have great influence on both physiological and mental health. Despite that most studies of stress are focused on the pressure caused by great life event, more and more researchers are paying increasing attention to the stress caused by daily hassles. A lot of researches have been conducted to explore the relationship between daily hassles with psychological health (such as negative emotion) and healthy behavior (such as smoking and vegetable taking). In the study, the other important concept is the meaning in life. It is emerging as an important topic in positive psychology. Plenty of studies have demonstrated that meaning in life is of great importance to individuals’ life development and is very essential to mental health. So the present longitudinal study aimed to explore whether daily hassles can be applied to the model of stress perception and test the moderating role of meaning in life in the relation of stress perception on psychological adjustment. In the present study, the self-reported data were collected from 153 freshmen. To avoid the common method variance, two waves of survey were administrated, using time lagged design with two months in between. In the first wave, participants were asked to provide ratings of Inventory of College Students' Recent Life Experiences, perceived stress scale, questionnaire of meaning in life and some demographic information. In the second wave, psychological adjustment was assessed. After the investigation, the data collected in two waves were matched, input into computer and analyzed by software of SPSS 16. 0 and M-Plus 7. The results showed that daily hassles were positively correlated with perceived stress and were negatively correlated with psychological adjustment. Besides, both perceived stress and meaning in life were positively correlated with psychological adjustment. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The results showed that perceived stress played a fully mediating role between daily hassles and psychological adjustment. Questionnaire of meaning in life contains two subscales: presence of meaning and search for meaning. SEM showed that presence of meaning moderated the relationship between stress perception and psychological adjustment. That is to say, when freshmen are faced with daily hassles, those who possess higher level of meaning would adjust to college life better than those who possess lower level of meaning. However, the moderating role of search for meaning was not significant. The present study not only examined the relationships among daily hassles, perceived stress and psychological adjustment which expanded the related areas and enriched the original theory, but also found that presence of meaning played an important role on psychological adjustment among freshmen, which is a hot area of occupational health psychology. Daily hassles are the negative phenomenon that cannot be ignored. This study provides an effective intervention to improve the freshmen psychological adaptation. Future research can use three-wave-data to further explore the causal relationship among daily hassles, perceived stress, meaning in life and psychological adjustment. Besides, in order to generalize these results to other populations, more studies among different samples are required. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Roles of School Psychological Environment in Grades4~6 Students’ Cognitive Development: A Multilevel Analysisof the National Representative Data 2015, 38(1): 2-10.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1628KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Mechanism between Cognitive Abilities and Academic Achievement among Junior High Students Fen XU Li ChunHua 2015, 38(1): 11-18.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1656KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Family Socioeconomic Status, Parental Investment and Migrant Children’s Academic Achievement in China 2015, 38(1): 19-26.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1507KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics

Select

The Stability of Interparental Conflict and Time-related Effects of Interparental Conflict on Mental Health of Junior School Students: A Longitudinal Study 2015, 38(1): 27-34.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1476KB) ( )   Related Articles | Metrics