Enhanced Hippocampal CA1 LTP but Normal Spatial Learning in Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase(A)-Deficient Mice

To define the physiological role of IP₃3-kinase(A) in vivo, we have generated a mouse strain with a null mutation of the IP₃3-kinase(A) locus by gene targeting. Homozygous mutant mice were fully viable, fertile, apparently normal, and did not show any morphological anomaly in brain sections. In the mutant brain, the IP₄ level was significantly decreased whereas the IP₃ level did not change, demonstrating a major role of IP₃3-kinase(A) in the generation of IP₄. Nevertheless, no significant difference was detected in the hippocampal neuronal cells of the wild-type and the mutant mice in the kinetics of Ca²⁺ regulation after glutamate stimulation. Electrophysiological analyses carried out in hippocampal slices showed that the mutation significantly enhanced the LTP in the hippocampal CA1 region, but had no effect on the LTP in dentate gyrus (DG). No difference was noted, however, between the mutant and the wild-type mice in the Morris water maze task. Our results indicate that IP₃3-kinase(A) may play an important role in the regulation of LTP in hippocampal CA1 region through the generation of IP₄, but the enhanced LTP in the hippocampal CA1 does not affect spatial learning and memory.     

Two dissociable aspects of feeling-of-knowing: knowing that you know and knowing that you do not know

Feeling-of-knowing judgement is traditionally regarded as a unitary cognitive process. However, recent research suggests that knowing that you know (positive feeling-of-knowing) and knowing that you do not know (negative feeling-of-knowing) have different neural substrates (Luo, Niki, Ying, & Luo, 2004). In the present study, we used a paradigm adapted from Koriat and Levy-Sadot (2001) to examine whether positive feeling-of-knowing and negative feeling-of-knowing were mediated by distinct cognitive processes. We found that positive and negative feeling-of-knowing were dissociated during immediate feeling-of-knowing judgements (i.e., preliminary feeling-of-knowing) and delayed feeling-of-knowing judgements (i.e., postretrieval feeling-of-knowing). At the judgement intervals, positive feeling-of-knowing was based on partial recovery of the nonrecalled targets, whereas negative feeling-of-knowing was determined by familiarity with the retrieval cues. Our results suggest that feeling-of-knowing is a heterogeneous process.     

The structure of Chinese adolescents’ conscience: A scale and its application

Based on traditional Chinese conscience theory, we defined the concept of conscience after reviewing the relevant literature. We constructed a preliminary theoretical model of the conscience structure through in‐depth interviews conducted with a sample of 127 Chinese adolescents and an open‐ended questionnaire conducted with 374 volunteers based on the consensual qualitative research (CQR) method. Then, we developed a preliminary conscience scale questionnaire and surveyed 702 people to obtain data for the development of the final questionnaire. The analysis indicated that the self‐developed questionnaire had good reliability and validity. The revised structure model of conscience in Chinese adolescents includes five dimensions: (a) compassion, (b) honesty and credibility, (c) a sense of right and wrong, (d) filial piety and fraternal duty, and (e) gratitude. Using this scale, we surveyed 1,009 adolescents in China. We have discussed the characteristic differences in scale scores among different age cohorts, genders, subject disciplines, and places of residence.     

Paradoxical Associations of Masculine Ideology and Casual Sex Among Heterosexual Male Geosocial Networking App Users in China

Momo, the most popular geosocial networking app in China, is used as a common platform to seek casual sex. The present study, which is based on the social constructionist view of gender, examines how the endorsement of masculinity among heterosexual male Momo users is associated with the number of casual sex partners they meet on the app. The study also explores the mediating role of the sex motive for using Momo. Analyses of survey data from 125 heterosexual male Momo users showed that the endorsement of masculinity had an indirect positive relationship with the number of sex partners mediated by the sex motive; at the same time, it had a direct but negative association with the number of sex partners. These paradoxical associations were explained by different patterns across the individual dimensions of masculinity ideology. Specifically, the dimension of the Importance of Sex was responsible for the positive indirect association whereas the dimension of Avoidance of Femininity was responsible for the negative direct association. These findings are discussed in relation to the wen-wu dyad of Chinese masculinity. Because unsafe sex has been found to be associated with the use of geosocial networking apps, my study also calls for integrating the concept of practicing safer sex with the cultural ideal of masculinity.

     

Recognition intent and visual word recognition

This study adopted a change detection task to investigate whether and how recognition intent affects the construction of orthographic representation in visual word recognition. Chinese readers (Experiment 1-1) and nonreaders (Experiment 1-2) detected color changes in radical components of Chinese characters. Explicit recognition demand was imposed in Experiment 2 by an additional recognition task. When the recognition was implicit, a bias favoring the radical location informative of character identity was found in Chinese readers (Experiment 1-1), but not nonreaders (Experiment 1-2). With explicit recognition demands, the effect of radical location interacted with radical function and word frequency (Experiment 2). An estimate of identification performance under implicit recognition was derived in Experiment 3. These findings reflect the joint influence of recognition intent and orthographic regularity in shaping readers’ orthographic representation. The implication for the role of visual attention in word recognition was also discussed.     

Children living with violence within the family and its sequel: A meta-analysis from 1995–2006

Based on 37 articles published in international refereed journals between 1995 and 2006, this meta-analytical review attempted to study the sequel of children living with family violence. It specifically attempted to identify the overall effect size of family violence on children's adjustment outcomes. Moderators that exerted their effects on the relationship were also studied. The overall effect size generated from the 353 study-level effect sizes was rather small (Z_r = .201). Moderating analysis on study designs, sample sources, child developmental stages and gender did not show significant heterogeneity in effect sizes, while there was significant dispersion in effect sizes among different types of child adjustment outcomes. Results of this study are basically resonant with the meta-analyses of Kitzmann et al. [Kitzmann, K. M., Gaylord, N. K., Holt, A. R., & Kenny, E. D., (2003). Child witnesses to domestic violence: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 339–352] and Wolfe et al. [Wolfe, D. A., Crooks, C. V., Lee, V., McIntyre-Smith, A., & Jaffe, P. G., (2003). The effects of children's exposure to domestic violence: A meta-analysis and critique. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 171–187], but add new information in that the report source of family violence was not a significant moderator, while that of child adjustment outcomes was.     

Sensitivity to attachment, alignment, and contrast polarity variation in local perceptual grouping

A number of leading theories (e.g., Grossberg & Mingolla, 1985; Kellman & Shipley, 1991; Rensink & Enns, 1995) commonly assume that perceptual grouping by contour alignment occurs preattentively across reversing contrast polarity elements. We examined this notion in seven visual search experiments. We found that only grouping by attachment supported preattentive visual search and that grouping by contour alignment required attention in order to operate. Both attachment grouping and grouping by contour alignment were sensitive to contrast reversals. Further results showed that contour alignment was a strong grouping cue only among elements with the same contrast sign but that it did not facilitate grouping across reversing contrast. These results suggest that grouping by contour alignment operates only on inputs of consistent contrast polarity.     

The Reasons to Go On Living Project: stories of recovery after a suicide attempt

Qualitative research in suicidology has become increasingly common in the literature. Lakeman and FitzGerald (2008) conducted a review of qualitative works specifically on suicide and recovery. Five interconnected themes—suffering/psychache, struggle, connection, turning points, and suicide and coping—were identified. The Reasons to Go On Living Project (RTGOL) project was a web-based narrative research project that sought to understand the transition from making a suicide attempt to choosing life. This article reports the findings of a secondary analysis of the narratives. By using Lakeman and FitzGerald’s themes as a starting point, one hundred and thirteen submissions were thematically analyzed using a deductive approach. The findings are mostly consistent with the interconnected themes identified by Lakeman and FitzGerald. Moreover, subthemes were identified to better reflect the lived experience of the participants. Clinical and research implications of this project will be discussed.     

Political Conservatism and Anthropomorphism: An Investigation

In the current research, we explore the possibility that politically conservative consumers may anthropomorphize consumer products more than their liberal counterparts. This is possibly because conservatives need to manage uncertainty in the marketplace. One way to do so might be by assigning more human‐like attributes to inanimate products. We test this hypothesis in three studies by measuring (Studies 1 and 2) and manipulating political ideology (Study 3). We find that avoidance of uncertainty (Study 1) and need for order (Study 2) can explain conservatives’ greater anthropomorphism. The effect is stronger for unpredictable than predictable products as the former are associated with greater uncertainty, which conservatives need to manage (Study 3). Also, we report that greater anthropomorphism of products can increase the perceived functionality of the products (Studies 2 and 3), offering implications for marketers. In all, the results offer support for our key hypothesis that conservatives anthropomorphize more; they also provide preliminary support for the role of uncertainty management in conservatives’ greater anthropomorphism of products. In our General Discussion, we discuss alternate explanations for the key effect and present some directions for further research in this area.