Remembering,understanding, and representation

Starting with the facts that not everything that is understood is remembered, and that not everything that is remembered is understood. this paper urges that models of language processing should be able to make a distinction between comprehension and memory. To this end. a case is made for a spreading activation process as being the essential ingredient of the comprehension process. It is argued that concepts activated during comprehension not only restrict the search set for candidate concepts to be used in a top-down fashion, they also constitute part of an episodic representation that can come to be p e of long-term memory. The way in which these representations atrophy is discussed, as is the way in which their idiosyncratic components are eliminated in producing representations in semantic memory. Some observations on the comprehension and memory of text are made and arguments are presented to show how intrusions and omissions in recall can be handled. Some existing experimental data is reanalyzed in terms of the proposed model and alternative interpretations consistent with the model are shown to be possible.     

汉、蒙、哈民族初中生早期问题行为研究

本研究采用问卷法,以甘肃省652名汉族、蒙古族、哈萨克族初中生为样本,考察了民族初中生早期问题行为的特点及其与家庭教育的关系。结果显示,汉族聚居区的汉族初中生在早期问题行为的6个因子上均值均接近或超过"稍有问题"的临界值,为本研究中的各民族之首。与哈族、蒙族相比,汉族家教方式中存在的问题更多、更严重;与同少数民族杂居在一起的汉族比,汉族聚居区家长的家教方式中存在的问题更为严重。相关不当家教方式对初中生早期问题行为的影响效应非常显著。     

上博馆藏楚竹书《周易》初析

本文是最近面世的上海博物馆藏楚竹书<周易>的初步研究成果.本文认为:1.从"数图形卦"分析楚竹书<周易>的卦符,由于这卦符纯以一与八这两数来表达,体现了与长沙马王堆帛书本<周易>同类的历史、人文水平,而稍晚于阜阳简本<周易>;2.楚竹书<周易>所以有"经"无"传",是因为尊"经"贬"传"的缘故;3.楚竹书<周易>的"同卦同类符号"即首符、尾符相同的文本现象,并不能证明"对立与统一"的辩证法思想,符号匚也不是楚竹书<周易>具有"上、下部分"的证明.本文对以上见解进行了有据有理的分析.     

Social influence on attitudes and on anchoring of congeneric attitude scales

Criteria for distinguishing between attitude and response scale effects in “after-only” studies of source-recipient discrepancy were developed and applied in two experiments. These criteria refer to congeneric scales (i.e., multiple measures of the the same property, which may differ in origin, unit, and reliability). Persuasive information may function as a scale anchor, in which case it is expected to affect only that response scale to which it directly pertains. Alternatively, it may convice recipients to change attitudinal positions, and produce effects on all congeneric scales. In one experiment, the self-proclaimed leniency-sternness of a presiding judge in a manslaughter case was varied along with the sentence he imposed and his trustworthiness. In the second study, only the sentence was manipulated, while both leniency ratings and sentencing were measured as dependent variables. Both analyses revealed support for the response scale interpretation, in that effects were observed only on those scales that were directly manipulated.     

How shall we study individual differences in cognitive abilities?—Methodological and theoretical perspectives

Selected studies in recent research literature are examined with regard to (a) their methodological adequacy in establishing dimensions of individual differences in information-processing abilities, and (b) the theoretical problems involved in inferring psychological processes from individual difference dimensions. Many methodological inadequacies are noted, including use of small Ns, questionable procedures in establishing variables (e.g., use of raw difference scores), improper or inadequate use of factor analysis and other multivariate statistical techniques, and poor presentation of results. On the whole, little progress has been made thus far in identifying psychological processes through research in individual differences, even though this research approach is viable and potentially useful. Serious theoretical difficulties arise in attempting to infer the nature and operation of psychological processes merely from the identification of individual difference trait dimensions. Promising research, however, is represented by studies in which an effort is made to analyze tasks into their components, to vary task characteristics, and/or to consider the strategies that individuals can employ in performing the tasks.     

Children's avoidance responses to three probabilities of threatened consequences

Children's avoidance responses were conditioned and then extinguished in a laboratory analog of a social threat situation. Aversive events (story interruptions) were programmed to follow either 100% (group E100) of the signals (threats), 60% (group E60) of the signals, or 20% (group E20) of the signals during acquisition. The subjects could avoid the signal and/or the aversive event by responding with lever presses above criterion level. Results indicated that groups E100 and E60 were generally not different from each other but avoided significantly more interruption and signals and responded at a higher rate than group E20. Groups E100 and E60 both shifted their responding from approximately equivalent probabilities of signal and interruption avoidance to relatively greater avoidance of interruptions during acquisition, and then shifted back to equivalent probabilities of signal and interruption avoidance during extinction. Results were discussed in terms of the function of threats as discriminative stimuli.     

张栻早期仁学思想考

张哲学的一个核心思想是仁学 ,以《仁说》为代表。从胡宏问学以来 ,他一直关注、探索仁的问题。张仁学的发展和演变可分为两个阶段 :其一是从裒集旧编《希颜录》、编纂《洙泗言仁录》到修订《希颜录》为一段 ;其二是从争论观过知仁、以觉训仁、朱熹《仁说》到自作《仁说》为另一段。从《希颜录》起开始 ,至撰写《仁说》为止长达十四年之久 ,张一直开拓这个儒学核心观念 ,终于形成其独特的仁学思想。而且这一段时间是在张哲学的形成和发展过程中非常重要的一段时期。前一时期 ,他广泛搜集儒家典籍当中有关仁的孔子言说和颜子言行 ,然后取舍选择 ,确定次第 ,加点北宋理学家和他自己的见解而成的。其主要目的是让学者先了解“求仁之方” ,然后“自进于圣人之门墙”。后一时期 ,以讨论与论辩形式来检讨湖湘诸儒和朱熹有关仁的言说与观点 ,然后提出自己的仁学观点 ,以树立自己的仁学思想。本文集中讨论前一时期 ,即张早期仁学思想的形成和发展之历史过程及其意义。     

The naive perception of masculinity-femininity on the basis of expressive cues

Groups of naive judges rated 18 videotaped stimulus persons on masculinity, femininity, “dominance, assertiveness,” and “compassion, sensitivity to others.” Stimulus persons were broken down by sex and sex-typing—half were male, half female—and within sexes one third were classified as masculine, feminine, and androgynous on the basis of their scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Two experiments are reported in which groups of judges rate stimulus persons on the basis of such different expressive information as videotaped pictures and recorded voices, videotaped pictures alone, videotaped bodies, videotaped heads, recorded voices, and still photos. The results showed: (1) Judges reliably rated masculinity-femininity from largely expressive cues: (2) judgments of masculinity-femininity were not predominantly determined by judgments of sex role-related traits: (3) the naive judgment of masculinity-femininity significantly corresponded to stimulus subjects' assessed sex roles; (4) stimulus subjects (particulary males) showed a consistent display of masculinity-femininity across expressive channels; and (5) judges used different expressive cues in judging masculinity-femininity in males and females. These results are related to broader questions concerning the relation between expressive behavior and personality.     

Formation à la psychologie dans le contexte de l’université brésilienne

The current article aims to describe the policies and practices related to improving the teaching skills of professionals offering psychology courses in secondary school and higher education in Brazil. We first present an overview of the teacher training process, as it was adopted in this country. We also present quantitative data about professionals’ ongoing teaching activities, as well as data on the number of undergraduate and graduate programs available in various administrative categories, and in various geographic regions in Brazil. In addition, we discuss public and private policies that have had an impact on efforts to improve the quality of psychology teaching in Brazil. We conclude with some comments and suggestions, based on national literature, regarding steps that could be taken in Brazil to make further progress in promoting excellence in the teaching of psychology.     

民初政治道德建构思想的历史透视——以《正谊》杂志为中心

民国初期,部分社会志士以《正谊》杂志为阵地,以道德救亡为主旨,围绕高扬道德为共和所需理念、确立道德因时更张理论、主张铸就共和道德精神、提倡规范国民言行、坚信重塑人格为救亡要途展开政治道德的理论诠释。此举与学理清算道德堕落、名实相悖,官僚治国、“恶精神”泛滥,官无人格、寡廉鲜耻,人心颓废、思潮隳堕等弊端联系在一起。欲藉反省自爱、外力逼迫、典型示范、塑造人格等方法以重铸近代政治理想人格,进而达到实际救亡之目的。     

Retrieval variability: The inefficient use of retrieval cues by young children

The hypothesis of this study is that the inefficient use of retrieval cues by young children is due to retrieval variability: the variable encoding of semantic information in cue stimuli at input and retrieval and the inability to reinterpret cue information to ensure cue-trace compatibility. The critical manipulations involved the use of semantic orienting questions at both input and retrieval. Second and fourth graders and college adults were given moderately associated word pairs (Knife-Axe). Encoding was constrained or free between groups at both input and retrieval. The retrieval questions biased the Same interpretation of the cue as at input (weapon), a uniquely Different interpretation (utensil), or an inappropriate Negative interpretation. Both cued recall and recognition of the target items was tested. The results showed systematic developmental increases both in the distinctiveness of the semantic encoding of stimulus information, and in the ability to reinterpret cue information to ensure cue-trace compatibility. The second graders encoded more variably than the older subjects, and were less able to shift from an incompatible encoding of cue information.     

On comprehending idioms: Do children get the picture?

This study examines children's comprehension of idioms. First, third, and fifth grade children (6, 8, and 10 years old) and college adults were read short stories containing contextual information and a key terminal sentence. The contextual information biased either an idiomatic, a literal, or am ambiguous (neutral) interpretation of the terminal sentence. The terminal sentence contained either an idiom (“fix his wagon”) or a changed form (“repair his wagon”) of the idiom. These manipulations were used to determine the role of contextual information and the conventional forms of idioms in idiom comprehension. After each story, the subjects were asked to explain the terminal sentence and to answer a “yes-no” question about the action described in the story. The results showed that idiomatic explanations and interpretations occurred more frequently for the idiom than the changed forms, and that there were strong developmental increases in making idiomatic interpretations of both forms. The results are discussed in terms of two current models of idiom comprehension.     

Developmental differences in remembering sentences after integrative or selective semantic processing

Fifth graders (age: 10 years) and college undergraduates performed one of four different semantic orienting activities on a series of agent-action-object sentences. Afterwards all subjects received a memory test combining recognition for whole sentences with cued recall for component agents, actions, and objects. Overall levels of both recall and recognition varied with the orienting activities. Relative recallability of agents, actions, and objects varied with orienting activity as well. Recognition performance improved with grade level but recall did not. The interaction between type of memory test and grade level was taken to indicate that organization of material in memory increases during adolescence even when the total amount of material stored does not.     

Children's recall of contextually integrable and nonintegrable episodic events

The hypothesis of this study is that children's deficiency in encoding input information may be attributed partially to a failure to fully integrate target and contextual information. Second and fourth grade children and college adults were shown sentences varying in internal integrability in a cued recall task for target nouns in the sentences. The sentences were internally semantically Congruous, Incongruous, or Anomalous. In acquisition, the subjects were told either to read the sentences (Read Encoding) or to rate the likelihood of the occurrence of the sentential event (Integration Encoding). The results showed large developmental differences in both levels of recall and the Congruity effect (superior recall for the Congruous relative to the Anomalous sentences) in the Read condition. These differences were minimized in the Integration condition. These patterns suggest young children are deficient in the contextual integration of episodic events, and, as a result, make inefficient use of semantic information in the encoding of input information.     

Relevance of genotype and its environmental counterpart to the theory,interpretation, and nomenclature of ability measures

While the constructs of aplitude and achievement, which are here defined as genotypic and environmental constructs, are potentially useful in psychological theory and in the development of predictors and weights for predictors, the use of these terms for psychological tests is highly misleading. When used for tests, the terms lead to invalid inferences concerning the constructs and to erroneous predictions of later criteria. All psychological tests measure current performance levels which are phenotypic characteristics. Practically all such tests can be used to estimate both genotypic and environmental constructs with nonzero accuracy. The basic error is to use a term which denotes a genetic or an environmental construct for a phenotypic measure. Implications of this position for inferences concerning group differences in aptitude and for construct validity of tests are briefly discussed.     

Evidence for direct visual access to letter identities

Subjects were presented with two letters from the set BCDFGHLNPORTVZ, one in upper case and one in lower case. Subjects were required to decide, as quickly as possible, whether the two letters on each trial were the same (e.g., Bb) or different (e.g., Bd). Because letters were always physically different, subjects presumably must name the letters in order to respond. Reaction times were predicted by the visual similarity of the letters, and not by their phonemic distinctive feature similarity. Consistent with previous work showing that a word's meaning can be assessed directly from visual information, the findings suggest that visual analysis of a capital or small letter can result in knowing the latter name without further linguistic processing. These results were interpreted as an example of automatic detection as described by Schneider and Shiffrin (1977).     

Excuse inference modification in children and adults

The ability of first- and third-grade children and college adults to make excuse inferences about a speaker's use of an utterance and to modify those inferences appropriately upon receiving later information was examined in four experiments. Short stories containing an utterance by a speaker were read aloud. Utterances in the story were preceded by contextual information that suggested either that the speaker was truthful or making an excuse. Utterances were followed by information that confirmed or disconfirmed the excuse interpretation. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that even first and third graders can make excuse inferences, but these children rarely modify these interpretations upon receiving disconfirming information. In Experiments 2–4 possible reasons for the children's interpretive inflexibility were examined by varying the difficulty of relating the excuse interpretation and succeeding information. Results suggested processing difficulty, as well as an interpretive “set,” contributed to the children's inflexibility.     

Do causal attributions mediate the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic interest?

Many investigators have demonstrated that task-contingent extrinsic incentives can reduce an individual's interest in some intrinsically rewarding task. Although it has been widely assumed that this “undermining effect” is mediated by the individual's causal attributions for engaging in the task, there has been little independent verification of this notion. In the present study subjects were asked to perform an inherently interesting problem-solving task. Half of the subjects were told that they could earn money by solving the task successfully (Money condition), whereas the other half were not (Control condition). Consistent with previous research, Money condition subjects expressed less liking for the task. In addition, Many condition participants attributed their task performance to less internal causes. Furthermore, across conditions, subjects who attributed their behavior to less internal causes were less apt to enjoy the task. The present data, therefore, more convincingly implicate the mediating role of causal attributions in the relationship between extrinsic rewards and intrinsic interest. Alternative explanations are discussed.     

Developmental differences in short-lived auditory memory for various classes of speech sounds

Spoken serial recall by second-grade children of aurally presented lists of digits, synthetic stop consonants, and synthetic vowels showed a significant suffix effect (selective debilitation of recall at the final position under the stimulus suffix condition) only for the lists of digits and not for either consonants or vowels. Making the synthetic syllables more distinctive by simultaneously covarying the consonant and vowel failed to produce a suffix effect under a strict scoring criterion which required both consonant and vowel to be recalled correctly; however, when subjects were given credit for partially correct answers the suffix effect emerged. Adults given the redundant consonant-vowel syllables showed a significant suffix effect with the strict scoring criterion. However, when consonants and vowels varied orthogonally, the adults' performance showed the suffix effect only under the lenient scoring criterion. An argument is made for equivalence of basic memorial processing between children and adults, the difference being in the number of features needed to disambiguate the target items and in the ability to integrate these features to exploit interstimulus redundancy.     

Cardiac orienting responses of 6- and 16-week-old infants

Since previous data suggested that the magnitude of orienting evidenced by cardiac deceleration increased over the first 16 weeks of life, 6- and 16-week-old infants were compared on various characteristics of orienting: habituation, dishabituation, and magnitude of deceleration to stimulus offset as well as to stimulus onset. Neither the change in stimulus following habituation trials nor the stimulus offset produced a large enough response to confidently evaluate age differences suggested by the data. Stimulus onset elicited a pronounced deceleration which for the two age groups was of equivalent magnitude on initial trials and declined similarly with stimulus repetition. It was suggested that similarity of the two age groups on these parameters was due to control of state within a narrow alert range, and that, in general, younger infants are less likely than older infants to show orienting when conditions for orienting are marginal.