Reasoning about the disclosure of success and failure to friends among children in the United States and China

Children's reasoning about individuals' willingness to disclose their successes and failures was investigated among 194 6- to 11-year-olds in the United States and China. In Study 1, participants showed a valence-matching effect, in which they predicted that individuals would be more likely to disclose their performance to an audience of friends if the friends' level of achievement was similar rather than dissimilar. This effect was weaker among children from China, who were more likely to justify their responses with reference to the implications for learning together or improving future performance. Results of Study 2 suggest that for children from the United States, the disclosure of successful performance to a friend who has performed poorly is seen as implicitly conveying the message "I'm better than you," whereas for children from China the message is "I can help you to do better." Results are interpreted with reference to cultural values and expectations about helping others to learn.     

“三腿一平台”组成的“基因打靶”——评介2007年度诺贝尔医学奖

2007年度诺贝尔医学奖项目——基因打靶,由三腿和一个平台所构成。三条腿分别是转基因学、同源重组和胚胎干细胞,一个平台指的是基因敲除。除了评价这些组成部分以外,还对推迟评奖进行了质疑。     

Solving the credit assignment problem: explicit and implicit learning of action sequences with probabilistic outcomes

In most problem-solving activities, feedback is received at the end of an action sequence. This creates a credit-assignment problem where the learner must associate the feedback with earlier actions, and the interdependencies of actions require the learner to remember past choices of actions. In two studies, we investigated the nature of explicit and implicit learning processes in the credit-assignment problem using a probabilistic sequential choice task with and without a secondary memory task. We found that when explicit learning was dominant, learning was faster to select the better option in their first choices than in the last choices. When implicit reinforcement learning was dominant, learning was faster to select the better option in their last choices than in their first choices. Consistent with the probability-learning and sequence-learning literature, the results show that credit assignment involves two processes: an explicit memory encoding process that requires memory rehearsal and an implicit reinforcement-learning process that propagates credits backwards to previous choices.     

内隐利他行为的实验研究

本实验采用外显的提名法和内隐联结测验(IAT),考察了初中生利他行为的外显和内隐行为.发现,个体的利他行为表现出自动化特征;内隐利他倾向和外显利他行为之间不存在相关;内隐利他倾向不存在性别差异.结合相关理论,本研究认为,利他行为具有内隐性或无意识性.     

结构化面试中面试官的评分及影响因素

结构化面试是人事选拔中采用的主要评价方法之一。解释结构化面试过程中面试官和应聘者行为反应的理论观点有社会互动理论、拟剧论、行为一致性观点、特质激活理论等。一个完整的结构化面试可以划分为关系建立、题目问答和分数评定三个阶段。在结构化面试中, 面试官的行为从观察、获取、分析、回应应聘者的各种表现信息, 形成初始印象, 到参照面试评分标准评分等, 经历了一系列相互影响的心理过程。影响面试官评分的主要因素包括面试设计因素和考官自身等内部因素, 以及应聘者因素、面试环境因素等外部因素两个方面。结合应聘者反应, 探索面试官评分的心理机制是今后结构化面试研究的突破点。     

股价和性别对模拟选股决策的影响

该模拟研究考察了股价和性别因素对股票新手选股决策的影响。股价为组内变量,分高低两个水平。被试是48名大学生,男女各半,均无股票操作经验。实验结果表明,股价对股票选择时间没有显著影响,但对被试体验到的冲突强度有明显影响,被试选择高价股时感受到的冲突强度显著高于选择低价股时感受到的冲突强度;在股票选择时间上存在显著的性别差异,女性选择时间明显长于男性的选择时间。     

Effortful semantic decision-making boosts memory performance in older adults

A major concern in age-related cognitive decline is episodic memory (EM). Previous studies indicate that both resource and binding deficits contribute to EM decline. Environmental support by task manipulations encouraging stronger cognitive effort and deeper levels of processing may facilitate compensation for these two deficits. To clarify factors that can counteract age-related EM decline, we assessed effects of cognitive effort (four levels) and level of processing (LoP, shallow/deep) during encoding on subsequent retrieval. Young (YAs, N?=?23) and older (OAs, N?=?23) adults performed two incidental encoding tasks, deep/semantic and shallow/perceptual. Cognitive effort was manipulated by varying decision-making demands. EM performance, indexed by d-prime, was later tested using a recognition task. Results showed that regardless of LoP, increased cognitive effort caused higher d-primes in both age groups. Compared to YAs, OAs showed a lower d-prime after shallow encoding across all cognitive effort levels, and after deep encoding with low cognitive effort. Deep encoding with higher levels of cognitive effort completely eliminated these age differences. Our findings support an environmental-compensatory account of cognitive ageing and can have important therapeutic implications.     

Time course of effects of emotion on item memory and source memory for Chinese words

Although many studies have investigated the effect of emotion on memory, it is unclear whether the effect of emotion extends to all aspects of an event. In addition, it is poorly understood how effects of emotion on item memory and source memory change over time. This study examined the time course of effects of emotion on item memory and source memory. Participants learned intentionally a list of neutral, positive, and negative Chinese words, which were presented twice, and then took test of free recall, followed by recognition and source memory tests, at one of eight delayed points of time. The main findings are (within the time frame of 2 weeks): (1) Negative emotion enhances free recall, whereas there is only a trend that positive emotion enhances free recall. In addition, negative and positive emotions have different points of time at which their effects on free recall reach the greatest magnitude. (2) Negative emotion reduces recognition, whereas positive emotion has no effect on recognition. (3) Neither positive nor negative emotion has any effect on source memory. The above findings indicate that effect of emotion does not necessarily extend to all aspects of an event and that valence is a critical modulating factor in effect of emotion on item memory. Furthermore, emotion does not affect the time course of item memory and source memory, at least with a time frame of 2 weeks. This study has implications for establishing the theoretical model regarding the effect of emotion on memory.     

Motivating protégés' personal learning in teams: a multilevel investigation of autonomy support and autonomy orientation

This study examined the roles of 3 multilevel motivational predictors in protégés' personal learning in teams: an autonomy-supportive team climate, mentors' autonomy support, and protégés' autonomy orientation. The authors followed 305 protégés in 58 teams for 12 weeks and found that all 3 predictors were positively related to the protégés' personal learning in teams and that an autonomy-supportive team climate augmented the effects of mentors' autonomy support and protégés' autonomy orientation on protégés' personal learning in teams. Protégés' personal learning in teams mediated the interactive effects of an autonomy-supportive team climate with mentors' autonomy support or protégés' autonomy orientation on protégés' behavioral and attitudinal outcomes, including their organizational citizenship behaviors and job involvement. The findings of this study provide business researchers and practitioners with valuable insights into the management of autonomy.