The animacy advantage for free-recall performance is not attributable to greater mental arousal

People often demonstrate better memory for animate concepts (e.g., lion and sailor) than for inanimate concepts (e.g., hammer and mountain). Researchers have attributed this effect to an adaptive memory mechanism that favours information relevant for survival, including information about living things. In the present experiment, we examined the hypothesis that people demonstrate better free-recall performance for animate than inanimate words because animate words tend to be associated with greater mental arousal than inanimate words, a factor that was not controlled for in previous experiments on this topic. To this end, we matched animate and inanimate word lists on mental arousal (and several other factors), and compared participants’ free-recall performance for the two word types. We were able to replicate past findings that participants’ free-recall of animate words exceeds their free-recall of inanimate words, but we found no support for the possibility that the effect stems from differences in mental arousal between animate and inanimate concepts, as this effect maintained even when the word lists were matched on mental arousal. The present results therefore indicate that mental arousal cannot explain the effects of animacy on free-recall performance.     

综合医院临床研究伦理初始审查常见问题及对策研究

为了探究综合医院临床研究的受试者权益是否得到有效保护,以某综合医院机构开展的临床研究项目伦理初始审查材料为例,进行了回顾性研究。选取2018年~2019年笔者所在医院开展的临床科研伦理审查项目存档资料进行评估。结果发现,在67项申请伦理审查的项目中,提出修改意见的项目占53.7%,其中知情同意书占47.8%;项目申请的主要问题集中于研究目的、研究内容和风险告知。研究方案设计的科学性、公平性、目的明确性、伦理合理性、风险告知充分等是研究者伦理意识和能力的关键。研究者和伦理委员会的工作能力仍需进一步提高以保护受试者的权益。     

悲心孤月度众生

五台山佛母洞,是一个极富传奇色彩的地方.那么多传说故事留在这高山岩洞里,千百年间令人梦魂萦绕."脱胎换骨"、"佛母重生"等充满理想主义情怀和一切归善的希冀,招徕的游客信众纷至沓来,使这里不仅成为一处僧尼居士朝拜的圣地,也成了一个旅游览胜的一大去处.     

一段不寻常的岁月

在我写作五台山现代僧侣系列的时候,我又一次迈入寺庙山门,与僧家去作坦诚的交流。所到之处,都为他们恬淡平和的心态与慈悲为怀的胸襟所折服。在文殊祖庭殊像寺,75岁高龄的圣忠和尚侃佩而谈,我跟着这位爱国爱教的“革命和尚”走进了一段不寻常的岁月。