A cross‐national examination of consumer perceived risk in the context of non‐deceptive counterfeit brands

• This study investigates the relationships between six identified dimensions of perceived risk and the overall risk, and also their explanatory power to the overall risk when purchasing counterfeit brands in two different contexts. Using a self‐administered instrument, a total of 525 responses were collected, 230 from the UK and 295 from China. The results support the hypothesised significant interrelationship between the dimensions of perceived risk in both contexts. However there are some differences. The models have a different exploratory power, with the one based on the British sample being stronger, while a somewhat different combination of the risk dimensions seems to predict the overall risk in each context. The psychological risk is the only dimension of risk that with no doubt contributes to the formation of the overall risk in both contexts. Although one could argue that when purchasing counterfeits social risk could be an issue, the evidence reported in this study does not support the view.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ground dominance effect in the perception of relative distance in 3-D scenes is mainly due to characteristics of the ground surface

Previously, we (Bian, Braunstein, and& Andersen, 2005) reported a dominance effect of the ground plane over other environmental surfaces in determining the perceived relative distance of objects in 3-D scenes. In the present study, we conducted three experiments to investigate whether this ground dominance is due to inherent differences between ground and ceiling surfaces, or to the locations of these surfaces in the visual field. In Experiment 1, two vertical posts were positioned between a ground surface and a ceiling surface, and optical contact was manipulated so that the two surfaces provided contradictory information about the relative distances of the posts from the participant. The two surfaces were either both above, both below, or one above and one below fixation. In Experiment 2, only one surface was presented, either above, below, or at fixation. In Experiment 3, the posts were replaced by two red dots, and the eccentricity of the optical contact on the two surfaces was equated in each of five locations in the visual field. In all three experiments, participants judged which of the two objects appeared to be closer. Overall, we found a higher proportion of judgments consistent with a ground surface than with a ceiling surface in all locations, indicating that the ground dominance effect is mainly due to characteristics of the ground surface, with location in the visual field having only a minor effect.     

The ground dominance effect in the perception of 3-D layout

The relative effectiveness of the ground surface and other environmental surfaces (the ceiling and sidewalls) in determining perceived layout was investigated in five experiments and a real-world demonstration. In the first three experiments, two vertical or horizontal posts were positioned between two surfaces (ground and ceiling in all three experiments, left wall and right wall in Experiment 1), and optical contact was manipulated so that the two surfaces provided contradictory information about the relative distances of the posts. Observers judged which of the two posts appeared to be closer. In Experiment 4, to control the height on the posts at which the distance judgments were made, a blue dot was attached to both vertical posts at varying heights and observers judged which dot appeared closer. In Experiment 5, the posts were replaced by two gray ellipses to eliminate the effects of the regular shape and texture. Our findings were that (1) among all four surfaces tested, observers showed a preference to respond according to the optical contact information provided by the ground surface--a ground dominance effect, (2) this effect did not depend on the height of the posts in the image, (3) as the scene was tilted away from a ground/ceiling orientation, the ground dominance effect decreased, and (4) this effect was not due to the location of the judgment.     

Combined effect of early life stress and acute stress on colonic sensory and motor responses through serotonin pathways: differences between proximal and distal colon in rats

Clinically, adults who have experienced stresses in childhood present with episodes of serious symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome that are associated with acute stress, but the mechanism is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the colonic sensory/motor responses to acute water avoidance stress (WAS) in male adult rats subjected to neonatal maternal separation (NMS), and the underlying mechanism of sensory/motor responses. Effects of the combined acute and early life stress on visceral sensation, colonic motility, and the tissue and luminal content of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the proximal and distal colon were evaluated using the abdominal withdrawal reflex test, faecal pellet output measurement and capillary electrophoresis analysis, respectively. Results showed that WAS significantly increased not only visceral sensitivity but also colonic motility in NMS rats compared to the normal rats. These alterations were accompanied by significant increase in 5-HT content in the proximal but not the distal colonic tissues; these alterations were also associated with increased density of enterochromaffin (EC) cells in the proximal segment. In contrast, the faecal content of 5-HT increased similarly in both segments. Consecutive administration of parachlorophenylalanine to NMS rats was more potent at 500 mg kg?1 day?1 than at 150 mg kg?1 day?1 in suppressing colonic sensory/motor responses to WAS, corresponding to the greater reduction of the tissue and faecal content of 5-HT and of EC cell density in the colon. These data indicate that combined early life stress and acute stress effectively induce visceral hyperalgesia and motility disorder through 5-HT pathways in the colon of rats, and the proximal and distal colon have different responses towards the combined stressors.     

学习自我效能感:是一般的还是针对特殊领域的?

自我效能感的一般与特殊问题直接关系到对自我效能感本质的理解,是自我效能感研究的一个重要理论问题。本文运用自编和他人编制的一般自我效能感量表和各种不同层次的学习自我效能感量表,对各层次的自我效能感与学习领域各层次的行为表现间的关联进行了考察,试图对学习自我效能感是一般的还是针对特定领域的这一问题作出回答。研究结果发现:各种层次的学习自我效能都会对学习成绩产生预测作用;越特殊的自我效能对相应学习领域影响越大。这既说明针对特殊领域的自我效能对具体行为有更大的预测性,也在某种程度上说明了一般学习自我效能的存在与作用。     

为僧作净:古代印度佛教寺院中的净人与园民

一、问题的提出古代印度佛教寺院,通常依靠与净人分数,获取受封土地内,包括耕垦种植在内的各种利益,利率原则上为六分取一。然而,僧人放弃"分数",自为经理农田的现象同时存在。至于具体操作方式,依义净所记,即为"自使奴婢,躬检营农"[1]。     

认知控制对基于位置和颜色返回抑制的影响

采用带颜色的字母为靶刺激.通过操纵被试任务.考察辨别任务中认知控制对基于位置和颜色IoR的影响.结果发现:要求被试辨别带颜色的字母,没有出现基于颜色的IoR;要求被试辨别颜色.出现了基于颜色的IoR.说明.自上而下的认知控制是基于颜色IoR产生的关键因素之一.其内在机制可用抑制模型和注意资源分配理论从不同角度解释.同时,两种任务均未要求被试辨别靶刺激的位置,却都出现了基于位置的IoR,验证了Russell"注意可能存在对位置信息自动加工"的假说.     

The Growth of Children's Semantic and Phonological Networks: Insight From 10 Languages

Children tend to produce words earlier when they are connected to a variety of other words along the phonological and semantic dimensions. Though these semantic and phonological connectivity effects have been extensively documented, little is known about their underlying developmental mechanism. One possibility is that learning is driven by lexical network growth where highly connected words in the child's early lexicon enable learning of similar words. Another possibility is that learning is driven by highly connected words in the external learning environment, instead of highly connected words in the early internal lexicon. The present study tests both scenarios systematically in both the phonological and semantic domains across 10 languages. We show that phonological and semantic connectivity in the learning environment drives growth in both production- and comprehension-based vocabularies, even controlling for word frequency and length. This pattern of findings suggests a word learning process where children harness their statistical learning abilities to detect and learn highly connected words in the learning environment.     

日本的公共哲学研究述评

近年来,公共哲学(public philosophy)这一用语在中国也逐渐为学术界所接受,这一方面是由于我国学术界对于国外思潮的敏锐捕捉,另一方面则是得益于日本公共哲学研究者在中国的大力推介。其实,半个世纪前“公共哲学”这一用语就在美国出现了,1955年李普曼(W alter Lippman)出版了     

以科学发展观统领社会主义新农村建设

社会主义新农村建设是事关中国社会主义现代化全局性的战略决策,必须以科学发展观作为根本的指导思想。以科学发展观统领社会主义新农村建设,要充分尊重农民在新农村建设中的主体地位,促进农村经济社会全面协调可持续地发展,走生产发展、生活宽裕、生态良好的文明发展之路。