Mathematics Performance of Immigrant Students Across Different Racial Groups: An Indirect Examination of the Influence of Culture and Schooling

Immigrant students are commonly assumed lower performers in US schools. Their inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are often seen as obstacles to their successful school learning. However, whether and to what extent this assumption is sustainable for immigrant students' performances in mathematics is the question that has not been empirically explored. Proper answer to the question would help verify the popular assumption about the immigrant students and their learning in the mainstream US schools. Guided by the straight-line, segmented assimilation and cultural capital theories, this study examined this issue using US grades 4 and 8 datasets of Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 and 15-year-old dataset of Program for International Student Assessment 2009. It was found that there were substantial differences in the mathematics performances of students across different racial groups. Being immigrant students does not always mean they are lower performers than their mainstream peers. The immigrant students coming to the USA earlier did not always show worse mathematics performance over their immigrant peers who came to the USA later. These findings challenge the popular assumption that immigrant students' inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are obstacles to their successful school learning and call for a deeper understanding about the academic performance of immigrant students in different content areas and at various stages of immigration across different racial groups.     

The effects of virtual nature exposure on pro-environmental behaviour

Exposure to (virtual) natural environments may encourage people to care about environmental protection and to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Previous research on this effect produced inconsistent results, suggesting that it may depend on the type of nature and behaviour under study. In the present study (N = 266), we investigated nature exposure effects on effortful pro-environmental behaviour in an online experiment. After watching pictures of either intact or destroyed natural environments, participants could exert voluntary extra efforts to generate real donations to an environmental organisation. In comparison to the intact nature condition, participants exerted significantly more effort for environmental protection after being exposed to pictures of destroyed nature. No clear differences were observed between the nature exposure conditions and a no-picture control condition. These findings illustrate the complexity of nature exposure effects and suggest that different types of nature exposure may differentially affect people's pro-environmental behaviour.     

右美托咪定对胃肠道开腹手术瑞芬太尼诱发痛觉过敏的影响

探讨术中泵注右美托咪定对瑞芬太尼所致术后痛觉过敏及不良反应的影响。60例择期开腹胃肠道手术患者,随机分成右美托咪定组（Ⅰ组,n=30）和对照组（Ⅱ组,n=30）。分别记录术后自主呼吸恢复时间、唤醒时间、拔管时间;记录术后30min、1h、2h、4h、6h的疼痛视觉模拟评分（VAS）及Ramsay镇静评分;记录术后24h内静脉镇痛泵的使用情况及术后不良反应。两组患者的术后恢复自主呼吸时间、唤醒时间及气管导管拔管时间相当,差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）;术后30rain、1h、2h,Ⅰ组患者的VAS评分明显低于Ⅱ组患者,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）;Ⅰ组患者在术后30min、1h、2h、4h的Ramsay评分明显高于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）;Ⅰ组患者在术后初次按压镇痛泵的时间较Ⅱ组患者明显延长,24h内镇痛泵的按压次数Ⅰ组较Ⅱ组患者减少（P〈0．05）;两组患者术后均无呼吸抑制的发生,但Ⅰ组比Ⅱ组其他不良反应的发生率降低,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。在开腹胃肠道手术的麻醉中使用右美托咪定可有效减少瑞芬太尼全身麻醉后痛觉过敏的发生率,并减少术后镇痛药的用量。     

乌鲁木齐市居民公共卫生服务需求及利用调查

为了解社区居民对公共卫生服务的需求及利用情况,对乌鲁木齐市211户家庭共计570人进行了问卷调查,结果显示,居民对国家基本公共卫生服务的知晓率和利用率偏低;居民认为有必要开展传染病及突发公共卫生事件管理、65岁以上老年人管理和慢性病管理;居民对社区公共卫生服务,不满意的原因主要是服务内容不能满足要求.     

Living with Gratitude: Spouse’s Gratitude on One’s Depression

Research has shown that gratitude makes people happier (McCullough and Tsang in Psychol Gratitude, Oxford University Press, pp 123–141, 2004; Wood et al. in Clin Psychol Rev 30(7):890–905, 2010), healthier (McCullough et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol, 86(2):295–309, 2004), more considerate (Bartlett and DeSteno in Psychol Sci 17(4):319–325, 2006), and better evaluated (Gordon et al. in Pers Individ Differ 50(3):339–343, 2011), enabling more stable relationships (Algoe et al. in Pers Relationsh 17(2):217–233, 2010; Algoe et al. in Emotion 8(3):425–429, 2008; Lambert et al. in Psychol Sci 21(4):574–580, 2010). However, no study has extended research beyond individual persons to investigate the impact of one’s gratitude on the mental well-being of those who surround her or him. Thus, we tested this possibility and found in Study 1 that within marriage, husbands’ depositional gratitude negatively correlated with their wives’ depressive emotion. The results of Study 2 validated Study 1 by showing that a wife’s depression would be relatively palliated if her husband was assigned to express appreciation to her and not share daily hassles. While a causal relationship was demonstrated as hypothesized, a difference between genders also emerged. We discuss in particular the latter in terms of its mechanism, limitations, and practical implications for marriage.     

Comparison of ganglion cell signals and psychophysical localization of moving targets can help define central motion mechanisms

Vernier acuity thresholds can be related to visibility of targets. This is considered in relation to retinal signals. Spatial precision of macaque ganglion cell responses to moving targets was assessed by neurometric analysis and compared with psychophysical performance. Under some conditions the amplitude of ganglion cell signals per se may relate target visibility to spatial precision of psychophysical performance. Other conditions are more complex; we suggest central mechanisms may adapt their properties, eg their dimensions, depending on the stochastic properties of ganglion cell signals. Thus, the relation of Vernier acuity to the visibility of targets is a rule of thumb which has a complex relation to physiological substrates.     

舞蹈治疗:从身体到心灵

现代舞蹈理论之父拉班早在20世纪上半叶就曾发出呼吁,"现代化劳动习惯经常造成对心灵的损害,如果不找到补救方法,整个人类文化必定遭殃".在一切工作领域均应艺术地创造节奏化、流畅的工作程序,从而避免过度紧张带来的疲劳和过度松弛带来的懒惰.舞蹈在现代社会应承担更多的社会责任:身心健康方面的、教育方面的、社会改造方面的.     

儿童口语词汇获得年龄效应

获得年龄是指儿童第一次学会某个词的年龄。单词获得年龄效应是指早获得的词比晚获得的词加工快。该简要概述了获得年龄数据的收集以及获得年龄在成人词典加工中的作用,重点介绍了获得年龄效应与频率效应的关系的研究,并对获得年龄效应的机制进行了简要的评述。     

心算乘法对脑干听觉电反应的影响

本文对31名听力正常的健康人作了脑干听觉电反应(BSR)描记。21人在记录过程中让其心算乘法,其中16人还令其注意听刺激短声并概算其触发次数。观察到21名心算者的BSR中16人的BSRⅠ波振幅比安静时的减小,20人的BSR出现了一阳性大波,未观察到Ⅰ波振幅增大的。在听短声的16人中未见出现Ⅰ波振幅减小者,且其中4人反而出现了Ⅰ波振幅相对增大,结果表明,心算乘法对BSR有一定影响,分析认为一种是对感受器的负反馈控制,另一种是正反馈控制,而且前者占优势。     

文化心理学方法论的扩展性探索

方法论对于一个学科的发展至关重要。从根本上说,方法论的基本内涵是关于研究对象与研究方法及二者关系的理论预设,而其核心目标是实现研究对象与研究方法的匹配。从文化心理学的研究现状看,现有的方法论尚未实现研究对象与研究方法之间的协调,从而构成文化心理学发展的潜在困境。基于对文化心理学的理论诉求和研究现状的把握,本文提出了文化心理学方法论的六个扩展方向:研究对象上从外显到内隐、从元素到整体、从抽象到具体; 研究方法上从现象到机制、从单向到双向、从静态到动态。