Independence of hand preference and sex-linked genetic effects on spatial performance.

The paper-and-pencil spatial performance of right- and left-handed high school students was compared separately for 1236 males and 1241 females. Handedness differences in favor of right-handed subjects were found among males only. Analysis of data for a subgroup of 555 subjects indicated that handedness and sex-linked genetic effects acted independently and additively on spatial performance.     

Nonunique solutions to the likelihood equation for the three-parameter logistic model

Samejima identified the possibility of multiple solutions to the likelihood equation (multiple maxima in the likelihood function) for estimating an examinee's trait value for the three-parameter logistic model. In the practical applications that Lord studied, he found that multiple solutions did not occur when the number of items was 20. In the present paper, fourteen multiple-choice achievement tests with from 20 to 50 items were examined to see if it was possible for them to produce item response vectors with multiple maxima; such vectors were found for all the tests. Examination of response vectors for large groups of real examinees found that from 0 to 3.1% of them had response vectors with multiple maxima. The implications of these results for multiple-choice tests are discussed.     

A mixed-effects expectancy-valence model for the Iowa gambling task

The Iowa gambling task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994) was developed to simulate real-life decision making under uncertainty. The task has been widely used to examine possible neurocognitive deficits in normal and clinical populations. Busemeyer and Stout (2002) proposed the expectancy-valence (EV) model to explicitly account for individual participants’ repeated choices in the IGT. Parameters of the EV model presumably measure different psychological processes that underlie performance on the task, and their values may be used to differentiate individuals across different populations. In the present article, the EV model is extended to include both fixed effects and subject-specific random effects. The mixed-effects EV model fits the nested structure of observations in the IGT naturally and provides a unified procedure for parameter estimation and comparisons among groups of populations. We illustrate the utility of the mixed-effects approach with an analysis of gender differences using a real data set. A simulation study was conducted to verify the advantages of this approach.     

Learning HMM-based cognitive load models for supporting human-agent teamwork

Cognitive studies indicate that members of a high performing team often develop shared mental models to predict others’ needs and coordinate their behaviors. The concept of shared mental models is especially useful in the study of human-centered collaborative systems that require humans to team with autonomous agents in complex activities. We take the position that in a mixed human-agent team, agents empowered with cognitive load models of human team members can help humans develop better shared mental models to enhance team performance. Inspired by human information processing system, we here propose a HMM-based load model for members of human-agent teams, and investigate the development of realistic cognitive load models. A cognitive experiment was conducted in team contexts to collect data about the observable secondary task performance of human participants. The data were used to train hidden Markov models (HMM) with varied numbers of hypothetical hidden states. The result indicates that the model spaces have a three-layer structure. Statistical analysis also reveals some characteristics of the models at the top-layer. This study can be used in guiding the selection of HMM-based cognitive load models for agents in human-centered multi-agent systems.     

Family factors of internet addiction and substance use experience in Taiwanese adolescents.

The aim of the study is to examine the differences in the diversity of family factors between adolescents with and without Internet addiction and substance use experience. A total of 3662 students (2328 boys and 1334 girls) were recruited from seven junior high schools, six senior high schools, and four vocational high schools in southern Taiwan. Internet addiction and substance experience were classified according to the score of Chen Internet Addiction Scale Questionnaires for Experience of Substance use. The family factors assessed included perceived family satisfaction, family economic status, parents' marriage status, care-givers, the frequency of intra-family conflict, families' habitual alcohol use, and perceived parents' or care givers' attitude toward adolescents' substance use. This study demonstrated that the characteristics of higher parent-adolescent conflict, habitual alcohol use of siblings, perceived parents' positive attitude to adolescent substance use, and lower family function could be used develop a predictive model for Internet addiction in the multiple logistic regression analysis. The former three family factors were also sufficient in themselves to develop a predictive model for substance use experience. The results revealed that adolescent Internet addiction and substance use experience shared similar family factors, which indicate that Internet addiction and substance use should be considered in the group of behavioral problem syndromes. A family-based preventive approach for Internet addiction and substance use should be introduced for adolescents with negative family factors.     

Unintended consequences of Ze Ren Zhi reforms in China: interplay of agricultural reform and population control policy

The aim of the discussion of unintended consequences of Ze Ren Zhi policy reforms in China is to show how isolating problems and developing solutions in isolation can lead to serious consequences. The Ze Ren Zhi reforms in 1978 were intended to increase agricultural productivity by changing from the collective system to an individual responsibility system, but the unintended and undesirable consequences were a growth in family size and discouragement of some environmentally sound land use practices. The prior system gave an equal share of collective income for an equal number of days worked. Under the new reform, "Baochan Daohu," each household had responsibility for a contracted quantity of grain production. Within 2-4 years, economic conditions improved considerably. A discussion is provided of the transition from rights and duties of the collectives to the new responsibility system and the experimentation with different systems. Specific attention is directed to land reforms, mutual aid teams, cooperatives, communes, variations of Ze Ren Zhi, contracting output to individual laborers, contracting jobs to households, and contracting output quotas to households. During the reforms, beginning in the 1950s and lasting until 1978, other changes were taking place. Death rates were declining and birth rates were increasing, such that in 1971 a campaign was established to promote the Late, Sparse, and Few policy for marrying and giving birth later, increasing birth intervals, and having fewer children. This voluntary program eventually took on a more universally mandatory nature. The 1950 Marriage Law stipulated 20 years as the legal age for marriage (18 years for females), and family planning (FP) workers during the 1970s were encouraging even later marriage, and by 1980 a system of rewards and penalties was established to reinforce small family size. After 1978 and a period of birth declines, the crude birth rate increased to 3.06 in 1983. The new responsibility system changed the reward and penalty system, led to a loss of FP workers, created conditions that gave advantages to large families, promoted early marriage and pregnancy, and created a migrant labor surplus. Chemical fertilizers were used and there was little incentive to get involved in reclamation or reforestation efforts that have longterm gain. Integrated planning and programming is needed for the short and long run.     

The ethical implications of Sengzhao’s concept of the Sage

This paper is an exploration of the ethical significance of Sengzhao’s concept of the sage as exhibited through a Buddhist practitioner’s expanded understanding and cognition of reality. From a philosophical point of view, I aim to show that the ethical significance of his concept of the sage comprises a shift first from ontology to epistemology, and then from epistemology to ethics. I firstly define Sengzhao’s concept of the sage and present a preliminary account of this concept before elaborating on its philosophical aspects. Next, I attempt to illustrate how ethical implications can be derived from Sengzhao’s ethical shift, and lastly, I shed light on the value and significance of this philosophical standpoint within Buddhist philosophy.     

A behavioral approach to substance abuse prevention in the correctional setting: A preliminary report

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a substance abuse program in a correctional institution using social skills training for secondary prevention. Forty-four male inmates with a history of substance use participated in the pilot program. Program topics included drug, alcohol, and substance abuse treatment knowledge and development of anger and stress management skills. A pretest-posttest analysis revealed significant improvement in overall knowledge of program topics and within specific areas. Areas of greatest improvement were drugs and alcohol. Clients and group leaders reported that the program was effective in facilitating attitude and behavior change regarding substance abuse. Results suggest a social competence approach to substance abuse rehabilitation in correctional institutions holds promise for both increasing knowledge and teaching effective skills to resist future substance abuse.