fMRI correlates of inhibition of return in perifoveal and peripheral visual field

When a target appears in the same peripheral location as a previous cue, responding is typically delayed if the cue-target interval is relatively long. This phenomenon is termed inhibition of return (IOR) and has been suggested to reflect an attentional bias in favour of novel visual space. It has been demonstrated recently that IOR is much stronger in the far periphery than in the perifoveal visual field. The present study further investigated the neural mechanisms underlying this eccentricity effect of IOR with an event-related fMRI technique. The results demonstrated a stronger activation in visual cortex for perifoveal processing and a broader activation in multiple brain areas for peripheral processing. When IOR effects were compared between these two areas, a stronger activation of the fronto-parietal network was evidenced for perifoveal versus peripheral IOR, while the prefrontal cortex was more strongly involved in the peripheral IOR versus perifoveal IOR. These results suggest that different neural mechanisms are mediating the dissociable inhibitory functions between the perifoveal and peripheral visual field.     

Ingroup ambivalence and experienced discomfort: the moderating roles of affective versus cognitive attitudinal basis, group identification, as mediated by negative beliefs about the ingroup

Prior research has found individuals' reactions to vary depending on whether such associations are activated by emotions (an affective basis) or by beliefs (a cognitive basis) about the object's properties. Accordingly, this conceptual distinction should be relevant also for the discomfortive responses to one's ambivalent attitudes regarding fellow group members (or the ingroup). Findings from two studies support the argument that ambivalence-associated discomfort a) is a general tendency when it regards affect-based ambivalence towards fellow group members, while b) only holds for the more identified group members when ambivalence concerns beliefs about the ingroup, and for this latter group members c) this tendency is driven by the strength of their negative beliefs about the ingroup or fellow group members.     

Can survival processing enhance story memory? Testing the generalizability of the adaptive memory framework

Research from the adaptive memory framework shows that thinking about words in terms of their survival value in an incidental learning task enhances their free recall relative to other semantic encoding strategies and intentional learning (Nairne, Pandeirada, & Thompson, 2008). We found similar results. When participants used incidental survival encoding for a list of words (e.g., "Will this object enhance my survival if I were stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land?"), they produced better free recall on a surprise test than did participants who intentionally tried to remember those words (Experiment 1). We also found this survival processing advantage when the words were presented within the context of a survival or neutral story (Experiment 2). However, this advantage did not extent to memory for a story's factual content, regardless of whether the participants were tested by cued recall (Experiment 3) or free recall (Experiments 4-5). Listening to a story for understanding under intentional or incidental learning conditions was just as good as survival processing for remembering story content. The functionalist approach to thinking about memory as an evolutionary adaptation designed to solve reproductive fitness problems provides a different theoretical framework for research, but it is not yet clear if survival processing has general applicability or is effective only for processing discrete stimuli in terms of fitness-relevant scenarios from our past.     

教养方式的母子感知差异与儿童抑郁的关系：母子依恋的中介作用

本研究以300个三至六年级双亲家庭中的儿童和母亲为研究对象,采用儿童版和家长版教养方式问卷、父母与同伴依恋问卷、流调中心抑郁量表,通过响应面分析法探讨了母子感知到的教养方式差异与儿童抑郁的关系,并使用标准分差法计算感知差异,通过结构方程模型分析了母子依恋是否在其中起到中介作用。研究发现:(1)母亲感知到的权威型、独裁型教养方式显著高于儿童感知,而纵容型教养方式则显著低于儿童;(2)权威型教养方式的母子感知差异正向线性预测儿童抑郁,独裁型教养方式的母子感知差异负向线性预测儿童抑郁,纵容型教养方式的感知差异对儿童抑郁没有显著预测作用;(3)母子依恋质量在权威型教养方式的母子感知差异和儿童抑郁之间起完全中介作用,但在独裁型教养方式的母子感知差异对儿童抑郁的预测中没有起到中介作用。     

Reinach and Armstrongian State of Affairs Ontology

Axiomathes - In this paper, I relate key features of Adolf Reinach’s abundant ontology of propositional states of affairs of his (1911) to Armstrong’s—or an...     

能力社会比较与归因反馈对不诚实行为的影响

社会比较作为认识自我的一种方式,对个体心理与行为的诸多方面产生影响,但对于社会比较如何影响不诚实行为以及归因反馈在其中的作用,目前尚不清楚。在3项实验中操纵了不同方向的能力社会比较,探讨其对不诚实行为的影响(研究1)以及归因反馈在其中的调节作用(研究2)。结果发现:(1)相比于向下比较和无比较,向上比较会增加个体的不诚实行为;(2)归因反馈调节上述影响:向上比较后,相比于给予能力反馈,给予努力反馈可以减少个体的不诚实行为。本研究拓展了社会比较后效研究,对如何减少社会比较引起的不诚实行为具有重要启示。     

Goal complexes: Integrating achievement goals as standards and self-attributed motives as reasons underlying goal pursuit

Goal complexes, which are formed by pairing standards of competence strivings with their underlying reasons, are essential to an understanding of achievement goal regulation. This paper examines goal complexes that cross other-approach and other-avoidance goals with the approach-avoidance dimensions of Big Three motives as underlying reasons. 220 undergraduates participated in Study 1 which developed and validated the Self-Attributed Motive Scale to measure hope of success, fear of failure, hope of affiliation, fear of rejection, hope of power, and fear of loss of power. Additionally, 235 undergraduates participated in Study 2 where goal complexes were created by crossing the motive items developed in Study 1 with other-approach and other-avoidance goals. The predictive utility of the resultant goal complexes was examined in relation to positive well-being (positive learning-related emotions and engagement), negative well-being (negative learning-related emotions and burnout), and academic buoyancy. The contributions of the studies to the self-attributed motive and goal complex literatures are discussed.

     

Intergenerational Coresidence and Life Satisfaction in Old Age: The Moderating Role of Homeownership

Household structure for older people’s subjective well-being is important to promote healthy ageing in the context of the rapid increase of the older population. Living with adult children is known to promote older people’s life satisfaction, a key indicator of subjective well-being, whereas others claim a negative impact of such intergenerational coresidence. This study aims to empirically test these theories (family support vs. family conflict), by examining the role of homeownership–another important factor contributing to subjective well-being–in this association between intergenerational coresidence and life satisfaction. Analysing the nationally representative data on the elderly population in South Korea, the findings showed that intergenerational coresidence decreases life satisfaction when the elderly achieve a certain level of housing security by living in owner-occupied housing. Living with adult children is negatively associated with life satisfaction particularly for older old homeowners compared to younger old owners. Our findings provide implications for public policies promoting intergenerational coresidence and asset-based welfare to enhance older people’s well-being in Korea and more broadly in East Asia.

     

妊娠晚期亚临床甲状腺功能减退症对母婴合并症的影响

本研究旨在观察妊娠晚期亚临床甲状腺功能减退症对母婴合并症的影响。最终选择2010年1月～2010年11月期间共325例妊娠晚期孕妇分为病例组（A组,n＝65）和正常对照组（B组,n＝260）,观察两组之间母婴合并症的变化。结果显示,两组之间在年龄、住院日、血压、体质量指数（BM I）、心率、分娩时孕周、血糖以及血脂方面差异均无统计学意义（P＞0．05）。但与B组相比较,A组发生母亲合并症及胎儿合并症的发生率明显增加,差异有统计学意义（P＜0．05）。此研究提示妊娠晚期亚临床甲状腺功能减退症增加母婴合并症的风险。