Mode of grasp, materials, and grooved chopstick tip on gripping performance and evaluation

This study evaluated the effects of the mode of grasping, chopstick materials, and the groove of the chopstick-tip on gripping performance of 32 participants, among whom 16 were accustomed to using chopsticks with a pliers-grasping mode and the other 16 with a scissors-grasping mode. Based on a random sequence, 8 kinds of chopsticks with different combinations (materials: bamboo, wood, plastic, and stainless steel, with and without grooves in the chopstick-tip) were used to carry out the action of gripping two different objects (peanuts and longan). The time to finish gripping 50 pieces of peanut and longan, the number which fell on the table when gripping, the subjective effort and the subjective preference were measures of efficiency of pinching for 8 kinds of chopsticks. Analysis showed that chopstick materials significantly affect time of gripping. The large object (such as longan) could be gripped more easily with the pliers-grasping mode or gripped with the grooved chopstick-tip. However, for small objects (such as peanuts), there was no significant difference in performance whether the chopstick-tip was grooved or not. A combination of bamboo chopsticks with grooved tips used with a pliers-grasping seem preferrable for more favorable gripping performance.     

How attention enhances spatial resolution: evidence from selective adaptation to spatial frequency

In this study, we investigated how spatial resolution and covert attention affect performance in a texture segmentation task in which performance peaks at midperiphery and drops at peripheral and central retinal locations. The central impairment is called the central performance drop (CPD; Kehrer, 1989). It has been established that attending to the target location improves performance in the periphery where resolution is too low for the task, but impairs it at central locations where resolution is too high. This is called the central attention impairment (CAI; Yeshurun & Carrasco, 1998, 2000). We employed a cuing procedure in conjunction with selective adaptation to explore (1) whether the CPD is due to the inhibition of low spatial frequency responses by high spatial frequency responses in central locations, and (2) whether the CAI is due to attention's shifting sensitivity to higher spatial frequencies. We found that adaptation to low spatial frequencies does not change performance in this texture segmentation task. However, adaptation to high spatial frequencies diminishes the CPD and eliminates the CAI. These results indicate that the CPD is primarily due to the dominance of high spatial frequency responses and that covert attention enhances spatial resolution by shifting sensitivity to higher spatial frequencies.     

Developmental Study of the Reversed Stroop Effect in Chinese-English Bilinguals

Chinese-English bilinguals in Grades 2, 4, 8, 10, and in college read Chinese and English color words in black or in colored print in the corresponding language. Subjects were more efficient in reading Chinese than English. This superiority effect of reading Chinese gradually decreased as subjects' familiarity with English increased. Furthermore, skilled readers were less susceptible than less skilled readers to the introduction of conflicting colors of ink. This result indicates that the pattern of the reversed Stroop (1935; Dunbar & MacLeod, 1984) effect is related to the proficiency of word processing.     

Factor Structure of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale in Hong Kong Adolescents

E. A. Southwell &; M. Merbaum (Eds.). Personality: Readings in Theory and Research. (2nd ed.) Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, 1971, 422 pages. Reviewed by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi     

Pooled Peer Ratings,Self-Ratings,and Estimated Ratings of Therapeutic Communication and Popularity: A Relational Analysis

Two studies of therapeutic communication and popularity were conducted in the framework of Dialogic Action Therapy (Ho & Wang, 2009 Ho , D. Y. F. , & Wang , H. L. ( 2009 ). Interpersonal perceptions and metaperceptions in Dialogic Action Therapy: A relational methodological approach to theory construction . Humanistic Psychologist , 37 , 79 – 100 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) that accords centrality to the bidirectional nature of interpersonal perceptions. Pooled peer ratings, self-ratings, and estimates of peer ratings were collected from 88 Chinese students in psychology who knew one another well. Self-inflation was operationally defined as the self-rating minus the peer rating, and overestimation as the estimated rating minus the peer rating, for each participant; negative values would be indicative of self-deflation or underestimation. Major results are: (a) Pooled peer ratings have superior validity over self-ratings of therapeutic communication; (b) bias effects (above-average and self-deflation) are found in ratings of popularity; (c) self-inflation and overestimation decrease as pooled peer ratings of therapeutic communication increase and, similarly, self-inflation decreases as pooled peer ratings of popularity increase. These results strengthen the case for a relational methodological approach that includes assessing how one views oneself and others, how one is viewed by others, and discrepancies between perceptions.     

When message tailoring backfires: The role of initial attitudes in affect–cognition matching

This research explores when and how tailoring messages to attitudinal bases backfires. Study 1 demonstrated that for attitudes (toward education subsidies) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, recipients whose initial attitudes were incongruent with the message position (i.e., message opponents) showed mismatching effects, such that the affective message was more persuasive than the cognitive message. Study 2 replicated these mismatching effects among message opponents for attitudes (toward a rival university) that were primarily affective. Study 3 controlled for effects of initial attitude certainty and replicated the mismatching effects of Study 2 for affective attitudes toward an increase in tuition. Finally, Study 4 suggested a potential mechanism for mismatching effects, revealing that for attitudes (toward an online course management system) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, message opponents counter‐argued with the cognitive appeal more intensely than the affective appeal. Contrary to the notion in the extant literature that mismatching effects are relatively rare compared with matching effects, the current research suggests that mismatching effects occur for both primarily affective and cognitive attitudes when the recipient is highly opposed to the message position. The present findings also demonstrate the utility of examining attitudinal bases at the object level in the context of message tailoring. Implications for message tailoring and for affective versus cognitive attitudes are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Nature of the Automatization Deficit in Chinese Children with Dyslexia

Clarifying whether automatization deficits constitute the primary causes or symptoms of developmental dyslexia, we focused on three critical issues of the dyslexic automatization deficit, namely universality, domain specificity, and severity. Thirty Chinese dyslexic children (mean age 10 years and 5 months), 30 chronological-age-, and 30 reading-level-matched children were tested in 4 areas of automaticity: motor, visual search, Stroop facilitation effects, and automatic word recognition. The results showed that the dyslexic children performed significantly worse than the CA-controls but not the RL-controls in all the tasks except for Stroop congruent-color words, on which they performed worse than children in both control groups. The deficits reflect a lag in reading experiences rather than a persistent cognitive deficit.     

The impact of interpersonal affective relationships and awareness on expertise seeking: A multilevel network investigation

Transactive memory theory suggests that general awareness of expertise location in a group is sufficient to predict expertise seeking. Yet expertise seeking is, at least in part, a social phenomenon between two individuals embedded in a network of social relationships. Taking a multilevel, network perspective, we examined the interplay of affective relationships and awareness on expertise seeking in groups. Hypotheses were tested using network data collected from 693 employees in 53 sales groups. HLM analysis results indicated that awareness of expertise distribution positively influenced the decision to seek expertise at all levels of analysis examined. In addition, both positive and negative affective relationships influenced expertise seeking, although their pattern of influence differed across different levels of analysis. More specifically, having either a positive or a negative affective relationship with another group member affected the decision to seek expertise from that person. Although having many positive relationships had a positive effect on expertise seeking, having many negative affective relationships had no effect. Moreover, having both an awareness and a positive affective relationship with another group member amplified their positive effect on expertise seeking. Last, individuals who had more negative affective ties were less likely to leverage the positive impact of each awareness relationship on expertise seeking.