Estimating averages from distributions of tone durations

We examined whether estimating average duration was influenced by the distribution peak location. We presented participants with samples of various tone durations and then presented comparison tone durations. Participants judged whether each comparison duration was longer than the average sample duration. Estimates of the averages were inferred from the psychophysical functions. The durations were sampled from three distributions: one positively skewed, one symmetric, and one negatively skewed. In Experiment 1, every participant was presented with every distribution. Estimates of the averages were unbiased for the symmetric distribution but were biased toward the long tail of each skewed distribution. This would occur if participants combined the sample to be judged with the previous, irrelevant samples, or with the comparison durations. In Experiment 2, each participant was presented with samples from only one of the distributions. Estimates of the averages were still biased toward the long tails of the skewed distributions. This would occur if participants combined the sample to be judged with the comparison durations, which were the same for the three distributions. In Experiment 3, each participant was presented with only one distribution, and each distribution was tested with its own comparison durations, selected as percentiles from the distribution. The estimates were accurate for the smallest population mean (positively skewed distribution) but underestimated the larger means. These results could be explained by subjective shortening of the durations in memory, with a simple equation from scalar timing theory. This equation correctly predicted two results: The estimated averages were a linear function of the stimulus means, and the variances were a linear function of the squared stimulus means. Neither prediction was dependent on the skewness of the stimulus durations.     

中国青少年互联网心理与行为研究及展望

本文回顾了近十年来中国青少年互联网心理与行为的研究成果,从研究主题的角度进行了聚类分析,并与国外青少年互联网心理与行为研究进行了对比。发现中国青少年互联网心理与行为研究主要聚焦于网络成瘾方面,同时也在网络欺负、网络亲社会行为、网络自我表露等领域有较为丰富的研究成果。现有研究存在研究领域相对狭窄、研究内容深度不足、研究方法较为单一等问题。结合青少年互联网使用特点和时代发展与变迁,本文从大数据、新媒体、电子竞技三个方面展望了未来中国青少年互联网心理与行为研究的方向,对互联网时代下的心理学研究具有理论和实践的启发意义。     

Knowledge and quality-management activities’ influences on technology communication and innovation with African foreign investment experience

We examined how psychic distance moderates the association of South Korean chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) knowledge and quality management with their predisposition to invest in African technology and innovation markets. Participants were current and prospective South Korean African business investment senior managers (n = 64; 20 females; mean years in management = 19.4) or not (n = 187; 97 females, mean years in management = 15.9). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyse the relationships. Only quality management was significantly related to technology commercialisation capabilities and innovation performance among managers with African investment experience. However, both quality and knowledge management were significantly related to the outcomes among managers without African investment experience. The effect of psychic distance might be explained by risk averseness, in that those without experience of African investment might be with more risk avoidant than those with such experience.     

Flash-induced forward and reverse illusory line motion in offset bars

Illusory line motion (ILM) refers to perception of motion in a bar that onsets or offsets all at once. When the bar onsets or offsets between two boxes after one of the boxes flashes, the bar appears to shoot out of the flashed box (_flashILM). If the bar offsets during the flash, it appears to contract into the flashed box (reverse ILM; rILM). Onset bars do not show rILM. Moreover, rILM and _flashILM are not correlated, indicating they are two different illusions. To date, rILM has only been studied using a 50-ms flash where the bar offsets 16.7 ms after flash onset. It is not clear if rILM is due to the 16.7-ms flash-bar-removal stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) or due to the flash offsetting after the bar. The current studies explore these parameters to better understand the conditions that lead to rILM. The results suggest that _flashILM is sensitive to the temporal interval between flash onset and bar offset, while rILM appears to arise when the flash offsets after the bar has been removed regardless of the temporal interval between flash onset and bar removal. These results are consistent with _flashILM reflecting visual exogenous attention while rILM may reflect the low-level spreading of subthreshold activation radiating from the flashed box. The findings are incorporated into the recent work that suggests that the literature concerning ILM is possibly conflating a number of different illusions of line motion, including polarized gamma motion (PGM), transformational apparent motion (TAM), and exogenous attention induced motion (_flashILM).     

《孟子·天下之言性章》再诠释:兼论孟子人性论的思想史意义

本文通过梳理早期人性论的思想脉络,说明早期以"习"描述"性"的普遍特征,由此引出孟子在《天下之言性章》中讨论"性"的特殊意义,文中首先讨论了学者目前关于此章争议情况,并进而对此章按分层结构的方式进行解释,以"故""利"与"智"作为各层的核心内容,说明孟子对"性"与"故"关系的认识,并确定孟子在此章中所表达的态度.     

Psychiatric Distress and Suicidal Tendencies in Adult Cancer Survivors: Verifying the Validity of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 for Identifying Suicidal Ideation in the Hospitalized Population of Mainland China

The Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) is widely used to assess psychiatric distress but has not been verified in the Chinese population. From March to April 2019, 293 hospitalized cancer patients, aged 20–87, completed the cross-sectional survey with demographics questionnaire, BSI-18, and PHQ-9. We analyzed the single suicide-related item of PHQ-9 with the full score clinical outpoint for BSI-18 and PHQ-9 using SPSS 22.0 and R 2.15, including Pearson's χ² test and ROC curve analyses. A Pearson's χ² test was carried out to compare the three different methods with the gold screening criteria. The p-value was correspondingly to .006, .066, .838. When the PHQ-9?≥?10 criteria for the BSI-18, receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that AUC values were 0.839, optimal cut-off points for both BSI-18?≥?50, the sensitivity of 85.8%, and 62.5%, respectively. The BSI-18 is suitable for a screening tool for psychological distress and could also be used in clinical settings for preliminary screening of hospitalized cancer patients.

     

Domestic cats (Felis catus) prefer freely available food over food that requires effort

Animal Cognition - Contrafreeloading is the willingness of animals to work for food when equivalent food is freely available. This behavior is observed in laboratory, domesticated, and captive...     

Comparing the temporal dynamics and efficacy of task-relevant and task-irrelevant memory-driven attention

Cognitive Processing - People’s attention is well attracted to a stimulus matching their memory. For example, when people are required to remember the color of a visual object, stimuli...     

Correction to: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Sources of Resilience: Mechanisms of the Relationship Between Bullying Victimization and Mental Health Among Migrant Children in China

Applied Research in Quality of Life -