Effects of age and anxiety on episodic memory: selectivity and variability

Selective age-related differences in source memory relative to item memory, and individual differences in memory performance in relation to anxiety were explored with high- and low-anxious subjects screened from normal young and elderly adults. They were read false facts about the locations of well-known and unknown sights in a male or female voice. Intentional and incidental learning instructions were administered for source memory. Selective age-related deficits in source memory were observed under both encoding conditions. Higher level of anxiety was related to lower memory performance only in the old group; this relation was stronger in source recall. The findings suggest that the presence of such selectivity is unrelated to the tradeoff between item encoding and source encoding. Anxiety affects the variability, and mediates the selectivity of age effects on episodic memory.     

Temporal integration of speech prosody is shaped by language experience: an fMRI study

Differences in hemispheric functions underlying speech perception may be related to the size of temporal integration windows over which prosodic features (e.g., pitch) span in the speech signal. Chinese tone and intonation, both signaled by variations in pitch contours, span over shorter (local) and longer (global) temporal domains, respectively. This cross-linguistic (Chinese and English) study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to show that pitch contours associated with tones are processed in the left hemisphere by Chinese listeners only, whereas pitch contours associated with intonation are processed predominantly in the right hemisphere. These findings argue against the view that all aspects of speech prosody are lateralized to the right hemisphere, and promote the idea that varying-sized temporal integration windows reflect a neurobiological adaptation to meet the 'prosodic needs' of a particular language.     

Familial handedness and spatial ability: a study with Chinese students aged 14-24

This study tested Annett's right-shift theory on spatial ability with two samples from China. The Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test (MRT), Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, and Family Handedness Questionnaire were administered to 266 high school students and 297 undergraduates. We found very few r++ or r-- among Chinese students. Most Chinese are either moderately right-handed or ambidextrous. Consistent with Casey's finding, we found using different methods to classify handedness leads to different conclusions. However, we did not find the effect of familial handedness that Casey found. Visual strategy is related to success on the MRT but handedness is not.     

How close is too close? A comparison of proxemic reactions of Singaporean Chinese to male intruders of four ethnicities.

Cultural and ethnic influence on proxemic behavior and invasions of personal space were investigated. 173 Chinese Singaporean undergraduates rated minimum interpersonal distance for perceived male intruders from four ethnic groups in Singapore--Malay, Indian, Chinese, and Caucasian. Rated distance scores ranked from "most distant" Indian Chinese dyads decreasing (in order of minimum distance) through Malay-Chinese. Caucasian-Chinese, and Chinese-Chinese dyads, independent of sex.     

时间记忆层次网络模型的实验检验

实验采用分类性实验材料,使被试在对词单项目加工时形成较清晰的群集,进而形成时间组块,目的在于对时间记忆层次网络进行直接检验。其中时序判断用反时间时和正确率两种反应指标,时距估计用再现和口头估计两种方法。结果发现,时间信息记忆既存在层次网络的特征,又存在线性结构的特征。     

心算加工年老化及其机制研究

以１７２名２０－７９岁成人为被式对心算加工的年老化过程及其机制进行了研究。任务为连续减法心算,依难度分为５种：１０００－１,１０００－３,１０００－１３及１０００－１７。结果表明,年龄与心算难度存在明显的交互作用,且随着年龄增加,不同难度心算效率均以幂函数形式降低。     

心算加工年老化及其机制研究

以172名20－79岁成人为被试对心算加工的年老化过程及其机制进行了研究。任务为连续减法心算,依难度分为5种：1000－1、1000－3、1000－7、1000－13及1000－17。结果表明,年龄与心算难度存在明显的交互作用,且随着年龄增加,不同难度心算效率均以幂函数形式降低。结构方程建模分析发现心算加工年老化过程存在两个中介作用因子,即速度因子和非速度因子,且速度因子对非速度因子存在明显的正效应。     

现代复苏的药物应用现状的理性思考

回顾了复苏药物应用研究的现状,运用创新思维的科学方法对现代复苏药物临床应用研究中的医学和伦理难题进行了理性分析,阐明了理论,逻辑思维,哲学思考对临床实践和医学研究的重要性。