Family interaction: A process model of deviancy training

A model was presented describing the reciprocal influence of disruptions in parent discipline practices on irritable exchanges between the target child and other family members. Disrupted parent discipline and irritable microsocial exchanges within the family were hypothesized to provide a basic training for aggression that generalizes to other settings such that the child is identified by peers, teachers, and parents as physically aggressive. Physical fighting was thought to lead to rejection by the normal peer group, which was hypothesized to feed back to further exacerbate fighting. Multilevel assessment including interview, questionnaires, laboratory studies, and home observations were carried out with the families of 91 preadolescent and adolescent boys. Nine indicators from the assessment battery were used to define the constructs Inept Parental Discipline, Negative Microsocial Exchanges, Physical Fighting, and Poor Peer Relations. Structural equations (LISREL VI) were used to describe the relations among the constructs. The t values for the path coefficients were significant. A chi-square analysis showed an acceptable fit between the model and the empirical findings. The findings were interpreted as being consistent with the hypothesis that under certain circumstances, family interaction may serve as basic training for aggression. In the present study, interactions with siblings in the home seemed to serve a pivotal role.     

The analysis of orientation-dependent time costs in visual recognition

How does the visual system recognise stimuli presented at different orientations? According to the multiple-views hypothesis, misoriented objects are matched to one of several orientation-specific representations of the same objects stored in long-term memory. Much of the evidence for this hypothesis comes from the observation of group mean orientation effects in recognition memory tasks showing that the time taken to identify objects increases as a function of the angular distance between the orientation of the stimulus and its nearest familiar orientation The aim in this paper is to examine the validity of this interpretation of group mean orientation effects. In particular, it is argued that analyses based on group performance averages that appear consistent with the multiple-views hypothesis may, under certain circumstances, obscure a different theoretically relevant underlying pattern of results. This problem is examined by using hypothetical data and through the detailed analysis of the results from an experiment based on a recognition memory task used in several previous studies. Although a pattern of results that is consistent with the multiple-views hypothesis was observed in both the group mean performance and the underlying data, it is argued that the potential limitations of analyses based solely on group performance averages must be considered in future studies that use orientation effects to make inferences about the kinds of shape representations that mediate visual recognition.     

The property transmission hypothesis: a possible explanation for visual impressions of pulling and other kinds of phenomenal causality

Under certain circumstances, stimuli involving two moving objects that do not come into contact reliably give rise to the illusory perceptual impression that one of the objects is pulling the other, as if there is an unseen connection between them. It is proposed that the conditions determining the occurrence of this impression can be explained as cases of application of the property-transmission hypothesis. This is a general hypothesis that causal objects operate in part by transmitting some of their own properties to effect objects under conditions where the causal object is active, where there are cues to the occurrence of generative transmission between the causal object and an effect object, and where there is a time-ordered relation of resemblance between properties of the causal object and those of the effect object. This hypothesis predicts that the pulling impression should occur only when the effect object adopts kinematic properties (speed and direction) that resemble those of the causal object. An experiment is reported that supports this prediction.     

Fractal characterization of rough surfaces using secondary electrons

Abstract

We propose a novel and rapid method of measuring the total area of a rough surface using a scanning electron microscope. We show, under certain circumstances, that this area is almost exactly proportional to the secondary electron yield from the surface. The relationship of this measurement to fractal characterization is discussed.     

Kaufmann on the Probabilities of Conditionals

Kaufmann has recently argued that the thesis according to which the probability of an indicative conditional equals the conditional probability of the consequent given the antecedent under certain specifiable circumstances deviates from intuition. He presents a method for calculating the probability of a conditional that does seem to give the intuitively correct result under those circumstances. However, the present paper shows that Kaufmann’s method is inconsistent in that it may lead one to assign different probabilities to a single conditional at the same time.     

提问水平与结构训练对文章标记效应的影响

实验一、二采用2*2被试间设计,以高中生为被试,探讨不同提问类型的学生在有无文章标记的条件下对阅读信息保持的影响,并验证文章标记效应的作用机制。实验一结论：在引入提问类型变量后,文章标记的“质量性假设”成立,而“数量性假设”比较复杂,只有在特定的条件下才成立。实验二结论：文章标记效应的产生机制更加符合策略转换假说。     

Biased cognitive operations in anxiety: artefact, processing priorities or attentional search?

It has been shown that, under certain circumstances, anxiety is associated with a processing bias favouring threatening information. To explain why this bias is apparent only on certain cognitive tasks, it has recently been proposed that the bias operates only when there is competition for processing resources. The present study sought to replicate previous evidence for the 'competition' hypothesis, while taking into account a potential confounding factor of word categorization in the stimulus materials. Anxious patients and normal controls were compared on their lexical decision times for threatening, categorized neutral and uncategorized neutral words that were presented either alone or accompanied by irrelevant nonword stimuli (i.e. absence vs presence of competition). The results were only partially consistent with previous findings and highlighted the importance of considering separately the effects of word valence and word categorization. When the latter was taken into account, the results indicated that an anxiety-related bias was only evident when there was competition for processing resources and when the information was presented outside the focus of Ss' attention. A modified version of the competition hypothesis was proposed in the light of these results and previous research into attentional biases in anxiety.     

Motion onset captures attention: a rejoinder to Franconeri and Simons (2005)

Recently, we have provided evidence that the onset of motion captures attention (Abrams & Christ, 2003, 2005a, 2005b). In the present article, we clarify the motion onset hypothesis, we discuss recent data (Franconeri & Simons, 2005) that, at least on the surface, seem to challenge the hypothesis, and we present results from a new experiment (Christ & Abrams, 2005). Finally, we conclude that, although motion onset does indeed appear to capture attention, motion in the absence of a motion onset might also attract attention under certain circumstances.     

Turning Daily Time Pressure into a Creative Day: The Interactionist Roles of Employee Neuroticism and Time Pressure Dispersion

The purpose of this study was to explore under which circumstances daily time pressure is positively related to daily creativity. Building on resource allocation and uncertainty theory, it is argued that highly neurotic individuals’ creativity, relative to their emotionally stable counterparts, is more strongly enhanced by daily time pressure. This effect, however, should only emerge in instances of highly consistent daily time pressure over time. To test this model, a diary study was conducted spanning over five subsequent working days. The sample consisted of 250 individuals with 1,156 daily measurement points. As expected, neuroticism and dispersion of time pressure over time jointly moderated the relationship between daily time pressure and daily creativity. The relationship was positive and significant only when individuals ranked high in neuroticism and dispersion of time pressure was low. The results of this study suggest that under certain circumstances, neurotic individuals are able to realise more gains from increased time pressure compared to their emotionally stable counterparts.     

组织公民行为与反生产行为的互动关系：一个基于情绪与认知整合框架的阐释

传统观点认为, 组织公民行为和反生产行为是同一连续体的对立两级或者负相关的独立二维结构。但近期研究表明, 这二者关系并非那样简单, 在特定情境下它们也许存在一种适度的正相关性。首先, 回顾组织公民行为与反生产行为的影响因素, 以及这二者关系的认知演变; 然后, 基于情绪与认知整合框架, 采用资源守恒理论和道德平衡理论探讨组织公民行为与反生产行为的互动关系; 最后, 对未来研究方向进行了展望, 如通过实证研究探索二者互动关系的边界机制、采用多种研究方法验证这二者之间互动关系、基于潜增长模型探讨这二者关系的动态变化、以及深入探讨这二者互动关系的管理实践策略。     

Expressivist to the core: Metaaesthetic subjectivism is stable and robust

Two common observations about aesthetics are in tension: that people generally consider aesthetic judgments subjective, and that people generally behave like objectivists (arguing over judgments, making choices based on judgments of trusted critics, rejecting strong assertions of aesthetic equivalence). This tension would be resolved if the first observation turned out to be false—if people endorsed subjectivism weakly, flexibly, or rarely. We tested whether people can be pushed to endorse objectivism under certain circumstances. Across a large sample (N = 588), aesthetic subjectivism proved consistent and robust to experimental manipulations. Even judgments that reflected participants' own evaluations of artworks were considered just as subjective as judgments directly opposed to their personal evaluations. We conclude that the apparent tension can be explained by the philosophical position of expressivism and discuss expressivism's prospects as a framework for understanding aesthetic judgment.     

Feeling the Heat: Body Temperature and the Rate of Subjective Time, Revisited

Experiments investigating timing behaviour in humans under conditions where body temperature was raised or (much more rarely) lowered, dating from 1927 to 1993, were reviewed. These tested the hypothesis that humans possess a temperature-sensitive chemical or biological internal clock. Most studies used conditions in which subjects produced or estimated durations less than 100 sec long, probably using chronometric counting, but other experimental paradigms were sometimes employed. Data from each study were expressed in a uniform fashion, as plots of changes in the rate of subjective time (estimated from changes in timing behaviour) against changes in body temperature. In almost all cases, rate of subjective time increased when body temperature increased above normal, and decreased when body temperature was lowered below normal, although observations of the latter type were rare. The data also suggested a parametric effect of body temperature, with higher temperatures generally producing faster subjective time. Some possible mechanisms for the effects obtained were discussed, with the most promising explanation probably being that the temperature manipulation produces changes in arousal.     

Implicit and Explicit Learning in Aged and Young Adults

There is a wealth of evidence that learning ability declines with age. In almost all of the studies however, the performance measures employed are explicit, even though research has consistently indicated that aged adults have well preserved implicit learning ability. This suggests that under certain circumstances aged adults should be at no great learning disadvantage in comparison to young adults. This experiment used the artificial grammar-learning paradigm, developed by Reber, in a 2 X 2 factorial design that involved systematic manipulation of grammatical complexity and rule provision. The study explored how each combination of conditions influenced explicit or implicit learning and the relationship between learning style and performance by aged and young adults. Learning was assessed primarily by recognition accuracy, involving correct and incorrect grammar exemplars. However, reaction time, error pattern, reliability, and verbal report data was also collected as a way of confirming and providing added detail on learning performance patterns. Aged adults, irrespective of experimental learning conditions, evidenced a remarkably consistent reaction time deficit. In contrast, the accuracy differential between age groups varied markedly across the four treatments. The most salient contrast occurred between complex grammar, without rules, where there was no difference in accuracy between the two age groups and simple grammar, with rules, where the difference was greatest. This change in learning performance between these two conditions indicates that aged adults will learn as well as young adults in situations where the knowledge domain is conducive to implicit learning.     

Valuing time: Moderate download times can improve online goal pursuit

This research examines how the length of time for which a goal is interrupted affects goal pursuit, in an online context. Goal interruption duration in the form of long download time duration has been identified as a significant impediment to electronic commerce. It is believed that a faster download time is always better to motivate web users to keep surfing. We challenge this belief. In three studies, we find that, under certain circumstances, longer rather than shorter download times motivate web users to keep surfing longer. The counterintuitive pattern of effects can be explained by web users' fit experiences (Higgins, 2000) while surfing. In particular, our findings suggest that when online surfing “feels right”, web users think that online information is right.     

The perception of rotated shapes: A process analysis of shape constancy

Ss made objective shape judgments of circular objects rotated in depth to provide a process analysis of shape constancy. The significant finding was that task difficulty, as reflected by proportion errors and correct reaction times; increased with increases in rotation from the frontal-parallel plane. This effect was located at the perceptual encoding stage of the shape judgment process. It was demonstrated that, in contrast to true shape information, the time to interpret slant and two-dimensional projected shape information was not critically dependent on degree of rotation. These results and a number of other additional observations demonstrate that the invariance hypothesis does not provide a sufficient account of shape constancy. Although projected shape and’ slant judgments can be made easily, perception of true shape involves encoding a figure-ground relationship by a process that does not rely exclusively on the discrete values of projected shape and slant.     

Effects of alternating set for speed or accuracy on response time,accuracy and confidence in a unidimensional discrimination task

Three approaches to a theoretical analysis of confidence judgments are considered: one linking confidence to the number of sensory observations, one based on a distinction between ‘state’ and ‘process’ factors, and a ‘balance of evidence’ hypothesis developed from an accumulator model of discrimination. An experiment is described in which observers were asked to decide which of two parallel lines was the longer, and to rate their confidence in each judgment. Each observer's set for speed or accuracy was manipulated over successive blocks of trials, and effects on response time, accuracy, and confidence were examined. Under an accuracy set, observers produced a higher percentage of correct responses, had longer response times, and made more confident judgments than under a set for speed. Within both speed and accuracy blocks, however, confidence ratings were inversely related to response time. The data on response accuracy, time, and confidence indicate certain deficiencies in either of the first two approaches, but were well accounted for by the third.     

Military service and moral obligation∗

The author investigates the view that there is a moral obligation to serve in the armed forces of the nation State of which one is a citizen resident (with special reference to young American men at the present time). It is conceded that under current law in this country there may be such a legal obligation, that many men may be obliged to render such service, and that under certain circumstances even a moral obligation to serve may also exist. What is denied is that any of the familiar theories of moral obligation is adequate in existing circumstances to establish this thesis in general. The result is either that a new theory of moral obligation must be developed to fit the current facts, or the present assessment of those facts must be fundamentally revised, or we must concede that draftees and men generally have no such moral obligation of service at all.     

Visual orientation estimation

A systematic error is reported in orientation estimation, in that on average, estimates are closer to the vertical axis than are the stimuli by up to 6 degrees. This systematic error results from a specific mechanism that may be related to depth perception, and that is avoided in certain circumstances or when other mechanisms take over. For example, the estimates of one observer who was a well-trained professional draughtsman did not show this systematic error. Furthermore, for all observers tested, estimation of clock time is not subject to the regular orientation estimation error. Rather, observers tend to estimate times as slightly further from the quarter hour than they really are. Orientation judgement channel capacity was also studied under various conditions. The number of discriminable orientations is far above the magic number "7" limit, reaching over 20 in optimal circumstances. The distribution of discriminable orientations is nonlinear, in that these are more closely packed about the horizontal and vertical axis than at the oblique.     

孔子之思的美学意义

孔子的思想方法具体体现在两个方面:一是从非现成性的识度,从生成与构成的角度理解事物的发生与存在;二是在“子绝四:毋意,毋必,毋固,毋我”中所体现与蕴含的对主体与世界之本然状况的理解。这种思想方法决定了我们不能把他关于艺术和美的言论当作固定的理论教条来理解,而只能将其理解为一定机缘下的缘起状态:理解为在具体对话状态中的有针对性的看法;理解为立足于“仁”这个更加本源、更加深沉的源域对艺术的具体存在状况的损益。孔子的这一思想方法是民族艺术精神的根基所在。     

SEARCHING FOR MOOD DEPENDENT MEMORY

Though it has sometimes been shown that events encoded in a certain state of affect or mood are most retrievable in that state, neither the circumstances under which mood dependent memory (MDM) occurs nor the mechanisms that enable its emergence are as yet well understood. The purpose of the research reviewed here is to clarify these circumstances and mechanisms. To this end, the research focuses on four factors that appear to play pivotal roles in the occurrence of MDM. These factors are (a) the nature of the target events or the manner in which they are encoded (ie, are events generated through internal mental processes such as reasoning, imagination, or thought more apt to be forgotten following a shift in sources?), (b) the nature of the retrieval task (is it possible to demonstrate mood dependence using implicit rather than explicit measures of memory?), (c) efficacy of mood modification (do strong, stable, and authentic affective states promote the appearance of MDM?), and (d) whether alterations in affect are one-dimensional or two-dimensional (does a shift along both the pleasure and the arousal dimensions of mood impair memory more than does a shift along the pleasure dimension alone?) Exploring these four factors in detail may make it possible to resolve much of the controversy that now surrounds MDM, and to acquire fresh insights into its cognitive and affective foundations.