Attentional disengagement from negative natural sounds for high-anxious individuals

Background and objectives: Previous studies have not consistently concluded whether high-anxious persons exhibit attentional bias towards negative natural auditory stimuli. The present study explores whether auditory negative stimuli could induce attentional bias to negative sounds in real life and investigates the exact nature of these biases using an emotional spatial cueing task.

Design: Experimental study with a mixed factorial design.

Method: We created two groups according to the state-trait anxiety scale, namely high and low trait anxiety. Participants (N?=?68 undergraduate students) were required to respond to an auditory target after receiving a negative (aversive sounds from natural life) or neutral auditory stimuli.

Results: A 2 (Validity: valid/invalid)?×?2 (Cue Valence: negative/neutral)?×?2 (Anxiety Group: LA/HA) repeated-measures ANOVA on reaction times revealed that participants with high trait anxiety exhibited slower reaction times in invalid trials following negative cues than following neutral cues. Higher levels of trait anxiety were associated with more difficult attentional disengagement from negative auditory information.

Conclusions: The results demonstrate that impaired attentional disengagement was one of the mechanisms by which high-anxious participants exhibited auditory attentional bias to natural negative information.     

施特劳斯论德性与古今自由主义

施特劳斯批评现代自由主义放弃了对德性的追求,不再把自由与德性联系起来。以霍布斯为视角批评现代自由主义的过程中,施特劳斯指出,作为现代自由主义的奠基者,霍布斯修正了西方传统道德法则,用有利于和平的习惯取代了传统意义上有利于灵魂完美的德性,造成节制等严肃德性的丧失。以古代自由主义为视角批评现代自由主义的过程中,施特劳斯指出,自由的原初含义是追求德性,古代自由主义追求德性,但现代自由主义不再将自由与德性联系起来,甚至不再认为自由与德性有何联系。施特劳斯表明,现代自由主义对德性的弃绝是坚定彻底的。     

Students’ achievement motivation in Finnish and Chinese higher education and its relation to perceived teaching-learning environments

This cross-cultural study of Finnish and Chinese students set out to compare the levels of achievement motivation (AM) in order to investigate whether the differences in them might be explained by the different cultural response styles and whether these response styles could be controlled for with a method which includes response style variables as covariates in ANCOVA. This study also scrutinizes relationships between perceived teaching-learning environments (TLE) and AM within each cultural group. The survey sample consisted of 3,035 Finnish and 2,309 mainland Chinese university students. Finnish students were found to rate the level of AM markedly higher than do Chinese students. It was determined that the method applied for response style controlling is not suitable for cross-cultural studies, even though it is recommended for this use. A modification of the method, which is based on robust statistical tools, was found not to change this conclusion, but it can nevertheless be used to obtain useful information about the effects of response style differences. The results also show that similar relationships between AM and TLE could be identified in the data of both groups. However, for the Finnish group AM is related to perceived suitable workload, whereas for the Chinese group it is related to teacher encouragement.     

月称对《中论》第24品第18颂的解释

龙树的《中论》是印度古代哲学及佛教哲学的名著,是深刻影响古代中国佛教哲学思维的经典性著作。因此,对这部著作的原语及义理展开深入的探讨,仍然是今后汉语佛学界值得重视的课题。本文以第七世纪中观著名论师月称疏释《中论》的梵语佛学名著《清净句》为依据,对《中论》第24品第18颂的梵本原义,作了精要的讨论。     

Factors of Early Suicide after Discharge: A National Linkage Study for Suicide Victims in Taiwan

Patients recently discharged from psychiatric inpatient care have a higher suicide rate. The study aimed to identify the characteristics associated with early suicide of those patients discharged from psychiatric wards in Taiwan. The results indicated that among 672 suicide victims who died within one year post‐discharge from psychiatric wards in Taiwan between 2000 and 2004, diagnosis of schizophrenia, shorter disease duration, and co‐morbidity with cancer were all significantly associated with suicide occurring within one month of discharge. Clinical diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, recent psychiatric diagnosis, and co‐morbidity with severe physical illnesses should receive special monitoring for potential suicide after discharge.     

Interpersonal–Psychological Theory,Alexithymia, and Personality Predict Suicide Ideation among Maladjusted Soldiers in Taiwan

This case–control study enrolled 226 maladjusted soldiers and 229 controls to investigate the impact of the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide, alexithymia, personality, and childhood trauma on suicide risk among Taiwanese soldiers. Assessments included the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, Mini‐International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and Brief Symptom Rating Scale. In addition to thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, other risks included less extraversion with higher neuroticism, higher alexithymia, poor academic performance, domestic violence, and life‐threatening events. Our study demonstrates the interaction of the interpersonal–psychological theory and other suicide risk factors in Taiwanese soldiers.