Understanding Undergraduate Plagiarism in the Context of Students’ Academic Experience

Journal of Academic Ethics - Previous research has shown that student plagiarism is the product of interplay between individual and situational factors. The present study examined the relationship...     

An examination of the RCMAS-2 scores across gender, ethnic background, and age in a large Asian school sample

The present study investigated the factor structure, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and U.S. norms of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, Second Edition (RCMAS-2; C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 2008a) scores in a Singapore sample of 1,618 school-age children and adolescents. Although there were small statistically significant differences in the average RCMAS-2 T scores found across various demographic groupings, on the whole, the U.S. norms appear adequate for use in the Asian Singapore sample. Results from item bias analyses suggested that biased items detected had small effects and were counterbalanced across gender and ethnicity, and hence, their relative impact on test score variation appears to be minimal. Results of factor analyses on the RCMAS-2 scores supported the presence of a large general anxiety factor, the Total Anxiety factor, and the 5-factor structure found in U.S. samples was replicated. Both the large general anxiety factor and the 5-factor solution were invariant across gender and ethnic background. Internal consistency estimates ranged from adequate to good, and 2-week test-retest reliability estimates were comparable to previous studies. Evidence providing support for convergent and discriminant validity of the RCMAS-2 scores was also found. Taken together, findings provide additional cross-cultural evidence of the appropriateness and usefulness of the RCMAS-2 as a measure of anxiety in Asian Singaporean school-age children and adolescents.     

Psychometric Analyses of the Test Anxiety Scale for Elementary Students (TAS-E) Scores among Singapore Primary School Students

The psychometric properties of the Test Anxiety Scale for Elementary Students (TAS-E) scores were examined among Singapore primary school students. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to determine the factor structure of the TAS-E in a sample of 540 Singapore students. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the TAS-E scores in another sample of 540 Singapore students to determine whether the findings would support the factor structure reported in Study 1. The results of the EFA and Schmid-Leiman transformation in Study 1 and the CFA in Study 2 suggest that the TAS-E has four factors (Physiological Hyperarousal, Social Concerns, Task Irrelevant Behavior, and Worry) and a higher-order factor, the Total Test Anxiety factor. These findings are similar to the results reported in validation studies of the TAS-E scores with U.S. elementary students. In addition, the test score stability and convergent and discriminant validity of the TAS-E scores were examined in Study 3 among 1,080 Singapore primary school students. The results indicated that the TAS-E scores appear to have adequate test score stability over a 2-week test-retest period. Evidence supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of the TAS-E scores was also found. Implications of the findings of the three studies are discussed.     

Rating leniency and halo in multisource feedback ratings: testing cultural assumptions of power distance and individualism-collectivism

This study extends multisource feedback research by assessing the effects of rater source and raters' cultural value orientations on rating bias (leniency and halo). Using a motivational perspective of performance appraisal, the authors posit that subordinate raters followed by peers will exhibit more rating bias than superiors. More important, given that multisource feedback systems were premised on low power distance and individualistic cultural assumptions, the authors expect raters' power distance and individualism-collectivism orientations to moderate the effects of rater source on rating bias. Hierarchical linear modeling on data collected from 1,447 superiors, peers, and subordinates who provided developmental feedback to 172 military officers show that (a) subordinates exhibit the most rating leniency, followed by peers and superiors; (b) subordinates demonstrate more halo than superiors and peers, whereas superiors and peers do not differ; (c) the effects of power distance on leniency and halo are strongest for subordinates than for peers and superiors; (d) the effects of collectivism on leniency were stronger for subordinates and peers than for superiors; effects on halo were stronger for subordinates than superiors, but these effects did not differ for subordinates and peers. The present findings highlight the role of raters' cultural values in multisource feedback ratings.     

The role of affective and cognitive empathy in physical, verbal, and indirect aggression of a Singaporean sample of boys

Bullying behavior is a serious form of school violence, affecting many children. This study investigated the contributions of 2 specific components of empathy (affective and cognitive empathy) on the 3 forms of aggressive behaviors in a sample of 241 Grade 4 and Grade 5 boys from Singapore. The 2 components of empathy differed in their relation with the 3 types of aggression. After accounting for cognitive empathy, affective empathy was associated with physical aggression. Neither affective empathy nor cognitive empathy was associated with verbal aggression. With control for affective empathy, cognitive empathy was associated with indirect aggression. Results suggest that empathy training based on specific deficits may be helpful in intervention and prevention of specific aggressive behaviors.     

Mimicry and propagation of prosocial behavior in a natural setting

This study tested, in a natural setting, the effect of mimicry on people's disposition toward helping others and the extent to which this helping behavior is extended to people not directly involved in the mimicry situation. In the main street of a busy town, men (n = 101) and women (n = 109) passersby were encountered and asked for directions. These passersby were subjected to mimicry by na?ve confederates who mimicked either verbal behavior alone or verbal and nonverbal behaviors together, including arm, hand, and head movements. In the control condition, passersby were not mimicked. Following this first encounter, each subject was then met further down the street by a second confederate who asked for money. The results show that people who had been mimicked complied more often with a request for money and gave significantly more, suggesting they were more helpful and more generous toward other people, even complete strangers.     

Effect of environmental exposure to a maternally-learned odorant on anxiety-like behaviors at weaning in mice

Animal Cognition - Early sensory experience, such as exposure to maternal or other environmental factors, is considered to influence neurocognitive development and behaviors. In many species,...     

从电影《2012》解析美国的意识形态及其对华影响

<正>一、电影《2012》梗概及其寓意2009年问世的美国大片《2012》,在中国热映一时,并在"同一个世界,同一个梦想"的虚幻想象和一厢情愿中饱受热捧。那么,《2012》究竟说