Cognitive adaptation and its consequences: a test of cognitive continuum theory

Cognitive Continuum Theory (CCT) is an adaptive theory of human judgement and posits a continuum of cognitive modes anchored by intuition and analysis. The theory specifies surface and depth task characteristics that are likely to induce cognitive modes at different points along the cognitive continuum. The current study manipulated both the surface (information representation) and depth (task structure) characteristics of a multiple‐cue integration threat assessment task. The surface manipulation influenced cognitive mode in the predicted direction with an iconic information display inducing a more intuitive mode than a numeric information display. The depth manipulation influenced cognitive mode in a pattern not predicted by CCT. Results indicate this difference was due to a combination of task complexity and participant satisfacing. As predicted, analysis produced a more leptokurtic error distribution than intuition. Task achievement was a function of the extent to which participants demonstrated an analytic cognitive mode index, and not a function of correspondence, as predicted. This difference was likely due to the quantitative nature of the task manipulations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing new online calibration methods for multidimensional computerized adaptive testing

Multidimensional computerized adaptive testing (MCAT) has received increasing attention over the past few years in educational measurement. Like all other formats of CAT, item replenishment is an essential part of MCAT for its item bank maintenance and management, which governs retiring overexposed or obsolete items over time and replacing them with new ones. Moreover, calibration precision of the new items will directly affect the estimation accuracy of examinees’ ability vectors. In unidimensional CAT (UCAT) and cognitive diagnostic CAT, online calibration techniques have been developed to effectively calibrate new items. However, there has been very little discussion of online calibration in MCAT in the literature. Thus, this paper proposes new online calibration methods for MCAT based upon some popular methods used in UCAT. Three representative methods, Method A, the ‘one EM cycle’ method and the ‘multiple EM cycles’ method, are generalized to MCAT. Three simulation studies were conducted to compare the three new methods by manipulating three factors (test length, item bank design, and level of correlation between coordinate dimensions). The results showed that all the new methods were able to recover the item parameters accurately, and the adaptive online calibration designs showed some improvements compared to the random design under most conditions.     

When sex doesn’t sell to men: mortality salience,disgust and the appeal of products and advertisements featuring sexualized women

Although men typically hold favorable views of advertisements featuring female sexuality, from a Terror Management Theory perspective, this should be less the case when thoughts of human mortality are salient. Two experiments conducted in South Korea supported this hypothesis across a variety of products (e.g., perfume and vodka). Men became more negative towards advertisements featuring female sexuality, and had reduced purchase intentions for those products, after thinking about their own mortality. Study 2 found that these effects were mediated by heightened disgust. Mortality thoughts did not impact women in either study. These findings uniquely demonstrate that thoughts of death interact with female sex-appeal to influence men’s consumer choices, and that disgust mediates these processes. Implications for the role of emotion, and cultural differences, in terror management, for attitudes toward female sexuality, and for marketing strategies are discussed.     

Cultural influences in acquiescent response: A study of trainer evaluation biases

The current study is developed to identify factors that affect trainees’ acquiescent tendency in organizational trainer evaluations. We posit that conflict‐handling style affects ones tendency to acquiesce in trainer evaluations, and this relationship is regulated by cultural influence. Surveys were sent to employees with training experience in Taiwan and North America, 395 valid responses were collected. Results showed that the two individual conflict‐handling styles: non‐confrontation style and dominating style, are positively related to acquiescent tendency; and their relationship is found moderated by the influence of Confucian work dynamism, thus confirming the influence of cultural norms. Our findings contribute to HRD practitioners by highlighting the different conflict‐handling style and culture influence will result in different level of acquiescent propensity, trainer evaluations results should be interpreted more carefully and cautiously.     

反思启蒙与理解宗教

启蒙运动主要是指发生在西方18世纪的思想和社会运动,其宗旨是批判基督教中的保守和专制思想,反对教会政教合一的残酷政制.如伏尔泰所鼓吹的自然神论、狄德罗所宣扬的怀疑主义以及休谟所坚持的不可知论的经验主义等,对于基督教传统的神学独断论确实具有摧枯拉朽的作用.     

心脑血管疾病患者高血糖的管理

糖尿病是心脑血管疾病的主要危险因素,血糖控制不佳会加重此类患者的病情,影响其预后,因此,急慢性心脑血管疾病患者的高血糖要积极处理。在血糖控制过程中,要综合考虑患者的病情,选择安全、有效的降糖方案,避免低血糖和药物的副作用。本文就心脑血管疾病患者高血糖的管理进行了总结。     

Resilience in Young Adulthood: The Moderating Influences of Gender-related Personality Traits and Coping Flexibility

The study was designated to explore the resilient (moderating) influences of gender-related personality traits and coping flexibility on the relations between life event stress and psychosocial adjustment in a sample of 291 Chinese young adults. Multiple outcomes (i.e., psychological, physical, and interpersonal aspects of adjustments) were separately examined with regression analysis. The interaction effects explained 5% of the unique variance in the psychological distress model and 4% of the unique variance in the interpersonal functioning model beyond the main effects. Coping flexibility tended to reduce the associations between life event stress and depression. Furthermore, masculinity buffered the link between life event stress and interpersonal functioning. The three-way interaction masculinity × femininity × stress also predicted additional unique variance in interpersonal functioning, which indicates that non-gender-typed respondents showed greater resilience to recent life stress than did their gender-typed counterparts. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

归因训练在精神卫生领域的应用

归因训练是一种从归因方式入手对认知、情绪和行为问题进行治疗的认知行为治疗方法。综述了归因方式在精神分裂症、神经症、物质滥用、生理心理问题及家庭暴力等精神卫生领域中的作用,以期对归因训练在相关领域的应用提供新的思路。     

Influence of impulsivity-reflexivity when testing dynamic spatial ability: sex and g differences

This work analyzes the possibility that the differences in the performance of men and women in dynamic spatial tasks such as the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (SODT-R; Santacreu & Rubio, 1998), obtained in previous works, are due to cognitive style (Reflexivity-Impulsivity) or to the speed-accuracy tradeoff (SATO) that the participants implement. If these differences are due to cognitive style, they would be independent of intelligence, whereas if they are due to SATO, they may be associated with intelligence. In this work, 1652 participants, 984 men and 668 women, ages between 18 and 55 years, were assessed. In addition to the SODT-R, the "Test de Razonamiento Analitico, Secuencial e Inductivo" (TRASI [Analytical, Sequential, and Inductive Reasoning Test]; Rubio & Santacreu, 2003) was administered as a measure of general intelligence. Impulsivity scores (Zi) of Salkind and Wright (1977) were used to analyze reflexivity-impulsivity and SATO. The results obtained indicate that (a) four performance groups can be identified: Fast-accurate, Slow-inaccurate, Impulsive, and Reflexive. The first two groups solve the task as a function of a competence variable and the last two as a function of a personality variable; (b) performance differences should be attributed to SATO; (c) SATO differs depending on sex and intelligence level.     

Framing Charity Advertising: Influences of Message Framing,Image Valence,and Temporal Framing on a Charitable Appeal1

This study examined when and how charitable advertisements could be effective in the context of child poverty. An experiment investigated the influences of message framing, image valence, and temporal framing on a charitable appeal. The results indicate that image valence enhances framing effects on advertising effectiveness of a charitable appeal when the image is congruent with the framed message, especially when the image and the message are presented negatively. A short‐term temporal frame facilitates effects of a negatively framed message with a negative pictorial presentation. Alternatively, a long‐term temporal frame increases advertising influences of a positively framed message with a positive pictorial image. Relevance for information processing of charity advertising is discussed.