Screening-off and The Levels of Selection

In The Levels of Selection (Brandon, 1984), Robert Brandon provides a suggestive but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to use the probabilistic notion ofscreening off in providing a schema for dealing with an aspect of the units of selection question in the philosophy of biology. I characterize that failure, and suggest a revision and expansion of Brandon's account which addresses its key shortcoming.     

The Effects of Spatial Frequency and Temporal Waveform on Three Measures of Temporal Processing

The effects of spatial frequency and temporal transition of sine-wave grating onset and offset were assessed using measures of reaction time, visual persistence, and temporal order judgments. The stimuli were lateralized fields, separated by 1° of visual angle. Slow temporal transition resulted in significantly poorer performance than did abrupt onset and offset, but spatial frequency had a minimal effect. Thus, the latency, temporal resolution, and temporal ordering of events are mediated by a mechanism that is sensitive to abrupt temporal transients. The stimulus conditions employed did not result in a shift in the point of subjective simultaneity.     

Projective Identification on Different Levels

Freud's investigation of that which lies beyond the pleasure principle is, among other things, an attempt to understand how thoughts on matter, biology, psychology and mythology become linked, despite the fact that each of these systems are independent and self-sufficient, each one working according to its own logic. Free energy, that we may liken to a kind of noise, is bound and organized in a process where subjective meaning is created. During this process, a meaningful connection between inner and outer reality is established. However, subjectivity also creates problems, since the individual needs to find his or her own self-realization, his or her own path towards the grave. Self-realization contains an aggressive potential, which—reminiscent of the workings of the immune system—may be aimed at everything that is not-self; at the unfamiliar or that which causes discomfort; at that which blocks the path towards the individual's mastery of the world.     

不同时间关注点下的空间-时间联合编码效应

摘 要 本研究旨在探讨时间关注特征对空间-时间反应编码联合效应的影响。采用时间关注点量表将有效被试分为关注过去组和关注未来组,进行反应区分实验。实验代表过去或未来的时间词作为启动刺激,要求被试判断的目标刺激是随后出现在屏幕左或右侧的圆点。结果发现,关注过去的个体对“左/过去词”的反应更快,关注未来的个体对“右/未来词”反应更快。表明时间关注点影响人们的空间-时间联合编码效应,不同的时间关注点产生人们对于过去和未来时间在注意分配上的差异,从而表现出不同的空间表征方式,在“左-右”水平轴上验证了时间关注点假设。     

不同意识水平下的情绪启动

实验研究了不同意识水平下情绪启动的机制。我们采用带有褒贬意义的中文语句作为情绪刺激,要求被试在情绪刺激播放响度正常或极低的情境下对不熟悉的法语语句进行评价。结果显示无意识情绪启动显著;有意识情绪启动却未出现。我们认为无意识情绪启动是个体对刺激自动加工的结果;而个体在意识层面的认知加工可能会抑制已唤醒的情绪。另外,情绪刺激的不同排列方式对被试评价的倾向性可能有潜在的影响。     

不同时距条件下面孔表情知觉的时间整合效应

通过把面孔表情分割成三部分,按照不同的时间间隔以及不同的呈现时间相继呈现,考察了被试对面孔表情的时间整合效果,以此探讨时间整合的加工过程和影响因素。结果发现：（1）面孔表情的时间整合效果受时间结构和刺激材料的影响。（2）分离呈现的面孔表情能否进行时间整合与SOA的大小有关。（3）面孔表情的时间整合存在类型差异。（4）面孔表情的时间整合是在一个有限的视觉缓冲器内进行的,图像记忆和长时记忆与面孔表情的时间整合过程关系密切。     

Clergy Burnout: Two Different Measures

A modified form of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used alongside the Francis Burnout Inventory’s two scales—the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry (SEEM) and the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale (SIMS)—and the shorter form of Eysenck’s Revised Personality Questionnaire. The respondents were Anglican clergy in England and Wales in their seventh year in ministry. SEEM and SIMS were shown to map onto the same personality constructs as the MBI. This suggests that the Francis Burnout Inventory can be used satisfactorily to measure clergy burnout.     

Why All Banding Procedures in Personnel Selection Are Logically Flawed

In this article, I first demonstrate that statistical significance testing of differ- ences between predictor scores (whether based on the standard error of mea- surement or any other statistic) is irrelevant to, and inconsistent with, the traditional, optimizing selection model. Second, I demonstrate that all band- ing procedures used in (or advocated for) personnel selection, including the sliding-band procedures advocated by Cascio, Outtz, Zedeck, and Goldstein (1991-this issue), are fatally flawed logically. I show that, when the number of applicants is large, all banding procedures logically lead to the absurd con- clusion that the only justifiable form of selection is random selection. Third, I present evidence that the empirical data set used by Cascio et al. to evaluate differmt selection strategies is anomalous and leads to results very different from those to be expected in typical and representative data. Specifically, the effect is to produce misleadingly small differences between the strategies in mean test scores of selectees and, therefore, in selection utility. In particular, selection utility losses from all forms of banding, in comparison to topdown selection, are understated. Finally, I show that, apart from the lethal logical flaw in banding procedures, Cascio et al. misinterpreted the meaning and na- ture of statistical significance testing.     

The Therapeutic Effect of Physical Fitness on Measures of Personality: A Literature Review

The authors review the literature concerning the effects of physical fitness on various measures of personality and offer specific suggestions for future research in this area.     

Why All Banding Procedures in Personnel Selection Are Logically Flawed

In this article, I first demonstrate that statistical significance testing of differ- ences between predictor scores (whether based on the standard error of mea- surement or any other statistic) is irrelevant to, and inconsistent with, the traditional, optimizing selection model. Second, I demonstrate that all band- ing procedures used in (or advocated for) personnel selection, including the sliding-band procedures advocated by Cascio, Outtz, Zedeck, and Goldstein (1991-this issue), are fatally flawed logically. I show that, when the number of applicants is large, all banding procedures logically lead to the absurd con- clusion that the only justifiable form of selection is random selection. Third, I present evidence that the empirical data set used by Cascio et al. to evaluate different selection strategies is anomalous and leads to results very different from those to be expected in typical and representative data. Specifically, the effect is to produce misleadingly small differences between the strategies in mean test scores of selectees and, therefore, in selection utility. In particular, selection utility losses from all forms of banding, in comparison to top-down selection, are understated. Finally, I show that, apart from the lethal logical flaw in banding procedures, Cascio et al. misinterpreted the meaning and na- ture of statistical significance testing.     

Different Anaphoric Expressions Are Investigated by Event-Related Brain Potentials

Event-related potentials were recorded to substantiate the claim of a distinct psycholinguistic status of (a) pronouns vs. proper names and (b) ellipses vs. proper names. In two studies 41 students read sentences in which the number of intervening words between the anaphor and its antecedent was either small or large. Comparing the far with the near distance condition revealed anaphor resolution specific effects: Ellipses triggered a potential shift with a short latency (approximately 120-200 ms) and with a fronto-central scalp distribution while pronouns and proper names triggered one with a longer latency (approximately 360-440 ms) and a parietal to right-occipital distribution. The early effect resembled the left-anterior negativity which has been related to syntax processing, while the latter resembled an N400 which is assumed to reflect semantic integration processes. These findings support the idea that ellipses and pronouns/proper names are processed by distinct mechanisms being implemented in distinct cortical cell assemblies.     

Inspection Times and the Selection Task: Are They Relevant?

Five experiments are reported based upon Evans' (1996) inspection time paradigm in which subjects are required to solve computer-presented Wason Selection Task problems while simultaneously using a mouse to indicate which card is currently under consideration. It had previously been found that selected cards were inspected for considerably longer than were non-selected cards, and this was taken as support for the existence of pre-conscious heuristics that direct attention towards relevant aspects of a problem. The first experiment reported here fully replicated this effect. However, by systematically varying the task format in subsequent experiments, the effect was found to diminish, disappear, or even reverse. The change in effect size and direction was not accompanied by any systematic variations in the subjects' card choices, indicating that the changes in taskformat had not altered the operation of the relevance-determining heuristics. On balance, it is suggested that the inspection time effect appears to be artefactual, and the inspection time paradigm therefore does not constitute satisfactory evidence for the existence of pre-conscious heuristics.     

不同数学水平儿童的数量估计:图形排列方式的影响

采用参照蔡方之等(2004)所设计的图形材料,考察了不同图形排列方式对不同数学学业水平小学生数量估计的影响。35名三年级被试参加了本实验,其中优生20人,差生15人。行为数据和口头报告分析结果显示:(1)优生是更合理的数量估计者。优生数量估计的绝对误差百分比明显小于差生。(2)图形排列方式对数量估计产生了显著影响。不同图形排列方式可能会造成规则-随机数量错觉和均匀-不均匀数量错觉,从而使均匀及规则图形被高估幅度更大。     

兴趣对不同理解水平的作用

1　引言　　兴趣影响学习的作用机制及其效果是教育心理学研究的一个十分重要的问题 ,近二十年来已引起越来越多的研究者的重视。目前在这一领域研究得比较多的问题是兴趣对文本理解的作用 ,这是兴趣影响学习的一个重要方面。在国外对这一课题的研究主要有二条途径 ,即分别研究个体对某一话题的兴趣和基于文本内容的兴趣对文本的保持与理解的影响。最近几年 ,我们在兴趣的信息—目标理论指导下 ,形成了第三条研究途径 ,即在兴趣测量中 ,以被试对具体阅读活动的兴趣为指标 ,研究实际阅读情景中出现的兴趣对文本理解的作用 (章凯、张必隐 ,1 9…     

从学科不同结构层次的变化看针灸学的发展

经络学说作为传统针灸学的核心内容没有任何实质性发展.经络学说中的基本概念、基本原理的认识并没有获得任何质的深化.但传统针灸学内经验一类的从属性内容获得了极大丰富.现代针灸学理论体系的建立作为针灸学核心创新的标志;其发展和完善依然任重道远.针灸学必须要有可靠的技术和科学的指导理论.     

A Method of Comparing Student Achievement Levels at Different Colleges

Mean ability levels as measured by high school rank and scholastic aptitude test scores were computed for freshman classes at 38 colleges in Minnesota. The mean grade-point averages achieved by these freshman classes were also obtained. By comparing mean ability level with mean grade-point, a “difficulty index” was computed for each college. The validity of the index was tested by using it to predict differences in grades achieved by students who transferred from one college to another and comparing such predicted grades with those actually achieved after transfer. Difficulty indexes computed by this method predicted differences in mean grade-point averages of transfer students with surprising accuracy.