Investigating How Test-Takers Change Their Strategies to Handle Difficulty in Taking a Reading Comprehension Test: Implications for Score Validation

This article investigates how test-takers change their strategies to handle increased test difficulty. An adult sample reported their test-taking strategies immediately after completing the tasks in a reading test. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling specifying a measurement-invariant, ability-moderated, latent transition analysis in Mplus (Muthén & Asparouhov, 2011). It was found that almost half of the test-takers (47%) changed their strategies when encountering increased task-difficulty. The changes were characterized by augmenting comprehending-meaning strategies with score-maximizing and test-wiseness strategies. Moreover, test-takers' ability was the driving influence that facilitated and/or buffered the changes. The test outcomes, when reviewed in light of adjusted test-taking strategies, demonstrated a form of process-based validity evidence.     

海峡两岸大学生适应性比较研究——以华南师范大学和彰化师范大学为例

以华南师范大学及彰化师范大学的大学生为被试,抽取大一至大四共440人为预测样本及1493人为正式施测样本,通过探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析编制大学生适应性量表,并通过t检验和单因素方差分析考察两岸大学生适应性情况的差异。结果显示:(1)大学生适应性量表由目标规划、学习趋向、人际关系及环境认同4个维度组成,具有良好的信度与效度;(2)两岸大学生在总体适应性、目标规划、学习趋向及环境认同维度上差异显著;(3)不同专业的两岸大学生适应性差异显著,且校园活动对两岸大学生适应影响显著。     

探索语言水平测验的认知诊断改造和深度分析： 以广州市英语学业考试为例

本研究探索在通用认知诊断模型和相关检验方法的基础上对现有语言水平测验进行诊断改造和分析,分三步进行探索：1）探索对语言水平测试不同的属性和Q矩阵构建途径;2）探索对语言水平测试基于通用模型的建模和效度验证;3）探索对语言水平测试建模后续的深入分析。研究发现：属性分布和总分分布划分的学生水平一致性较高;学生对属性掌握存在性别差异且属性间的难易层级不同;属性模式分布进一步验证了语言属性间关联程度较高以及通用认知诊断模型和相关检验方法对语言测验的适用性。三步式的建模分析可作为对语言水平测验进行认知诊断改造的参考。     

Symmetry and its role in the crossmodal correspondence between shape and taste

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Despite the rapid growth of research on the crossmodal correspondence between visually presented shapes and basic tastes (e.g., sweet, sour, bitter, and...     

Balance,Proprioception, and Gross Motor Development of Chinese Children Aged 3 to 6 Years

The authors' aim was to find the features of balance, proprioception, and gross motor development of Chinese children 3–6 years old and their correlations, provide theoretical support for promoting children's motor development, and enrich the world theoretical system of motor development. This study used a Tekscan foot pressure measurement instrument (Tekscan, Inc., Boston, MA), walking on a balance beam, Xsens 3-dimensional positional measuring system (Xsens Technologies, Enschede, the Netherlands), and Test of Gross Motor Development-2 to assess static balance, dynamic balance, knee proprioception, and levels of gross motor development (GMD) of 3- to 6-year-old children (n = 60) in Beijing. The results are as follows: children had significant age differences in static balance, dynamic balance, proprioception, and levels of GMD; children had significant gender differences in static balance, proprioception, and levels of GMD; children's static balance, dynamic balance, and proprioception had a very significant positive correlation with GMD (p < .01), but no significant correlation with body mass index.     

Are Decisions Made by Group Representatives More Risk Averse? The Effect of Sense of Responsibility

We tested the hypothesis that a sense of responsibility drives group representatives' decisions to be more risk averse compared with decisions made by individuals. The hypothesis was supported when the monetary considerations (i.e., payoff inequality and the magnitude effect) were controlled for in the potential gain domain as well as in the potential loss domain. Evidence showed that this is because the group representatives were concerned about how they would view themselves (e.g., guilt and self‐blame) and also how they would be viewed by others (i.e., to avoid being blamed and looked down upon by others). This study provided new insights into understanding group representatives' decision making under risk. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Excitatory and inhibitory priming by attended and ignored non-recycled words with monolinguals and bilinguals

Experiments examining identity priming from attended and ignored novel words (words that are used only once except when repetition is required due to experimental manipulation) in a lexical decision task are reported. Experiment 1 tested English monolinguals whereas Experiment 2 tested Twi (a native language of Ghana, Africa)-English bilinguals. Participants were presented with sequential pairs of stimuli composed of a prime followed by a probe, with each containing two items. The participants were required to name the target word in the prime display, and to make a lexical decision to the target item in the probe display. On attended repetition (AR) trials the probe target item was identical to the target word on the preceding attentional display. On ignored repetition (IR) trials the probe target item was the same as the distractor word in the preceding attentional display. The experiments produced facilitated (positive) priming in the AR trials and delayed (negative) priming in the IR trials. Significantly, the positive and negative priming effects also replicated across both monolingual and bilingual groups of participants, despite the fact that the bilinguals were responding to the task in their non-dominant language.     

Both Earlier Times and the Future Are “Front”: The Distinction Between Time‐ and Ego‐Reference‐Points in Mandarin Speakers’ Temporal Representation

Mandarin speakers, like most other language speakers around the world, use spatial terms to talk about time. However, the direction of their mental temporal representation along the front‐back axis remains controversial because they use the spatial term “front” to refer to both earlier times (e.g., front‐year means “the year before last”) and the future (e.g., front‐road means “prospect”). Although the linguistic distinction between time‐ and ego‐reference‐point spatiotemporal metaphors in Mandarin suggests a promising clarification of the above controversy, there is little empirical evidence verifying this distinction. In this study, Mandarin speakers’ time‐ and ego‐reference‐point temporal representations on three axes (i.e., sagittal, lateral, and vertical) were separately examined through two tasks. In a time‐reference‐point task, Mandarin speakers judged whether the time point of the second picture was earlier or later than the time point of the first picture, while in an ego‐reference‐point task, they judged whether an event or phase had happened in the past or would happen in the future. The results indicate that Mandarin speakers construe an earlier‐times‐in‐front‐of‐later‐times temporal sequence and adopt the front‐to‐the‐future orientation.     

Testosterone and Proactive-Reactive Aggression in Youth: the Moderating Role of Harsh Discipline

This study tests a biosocial model of the link between testosterone and proactive-reactive aggression in youth at varying levels of harsh discipline. Given that proactive aggression is used to gain power and status and the importance of social learning in its formation, we hypothesized that testosterone would be associated with proactive aggression at higher levels of harsh discipline, and that this relationship would be more pronounced in boys than girls. Participants (n?=?445; 50% male; M age?=?11.92 years; 80% African-American) and their caregivers completed questionnaires including demographics, conflict tactics, and proactive-reactive aggression. Youth also provided a saliva sample for testosterone. Analyses revealed an interaction between testosterone and harsh discipline on proactive aggression in both boys and girls, and an interaction between testosterone and harsh discipline on reactive aggression in boys only. For those experiencing high levels of harsh discipline, testosterone was positively associated with proactive aggression, with the magnitude of the association increasing as harsh discipline increased. For below average levels of harsh discipline, there were protective effects of high testosterone for boy’s reactive aggression and for girl’s proactive aggression. The findings support basic tenets of the biosocial model which suggest that links between testosterone and aggressive behavior are dependent on contextual forces, highlighting the complex relationship between hormones, social context, and aggression. Novel findings include protective effects of high testosterone for those exposed to low levels of harsh discipline. Findings are discussed in light of the context-contingency effect and also within the differential susceptibility framework.