Attempted suicide among young rural women in the People's Republic of China: possibilities for prevention

This article reports on a sample of 147 women under age 35 living in rural areas in China who had attempted suicide and were treated in the emergency room of hospitals in four different locations. The interview instrument took 2 to 3 hours to complete and included audiotaped in-depth interviews with the patient and family members (separately); detailed evaluation of the circumstances surrounding the attempt, life events, and the family environment; and a formal psychiatric evaluation by an attending-level psychiatrist. Overwhelmingly, the method used by the attempters was poisoning with highly lethal pesticides and organic fertilizers. The women's suicidal behavior was characterized by high levels of impulsivity; little effort to seclude themselves before and after ingesting poison; and low rates of mental illness, including depression. Detailed suggestions are made about ways to implement suicide prevention strategies within the particular social and economic context of China.     

Millisecond-accurate synchronization of visual stimulus displays for cognitive research

A widely adopted approach in cognitive psychology research is to analyze changes in the response time to a stimulus onset in order to infer information about the cognitive functioning of a subject being tested. But current techniques have inherent variations in the timing between stimulus activation and stimulus display of up to tens of milliseconds, thereby introducing significant errors when response time or the latency of neural responses is measured. This article presents a novel yet easy-to-implement solution for improving resolution in the synchronizing of stimulus activation and stimulus display. Unlike traditional methods in which the stimulus onset is set as the time at which the routine for displaying the stimulus is called, this approach uses DirectX to monitor the scan line of CRTs and sets the stimulus onset to the time at which the scan line arrives at the position where the stimulus is to be drawn. This approach removes the uncertainty involved in having a time delay between the activation of the display routine and the actual time at which the display occurs, improving the accuracy of response time and latency period measurements to within 200 μsec. With a specially developed driver, this solution can generate a trigger signal synchronized precisely with the stimulus onset in all popular Windows systems (including Windows 2000/XP).     

Prevalence and correlates of antisocial behaviors among three ethnic groups

Using data from the MECA Study, this report examines the prevalence of Conduct Disorder (CD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and various levels of antisocial behavior and their correlates among three ethnic groups: Hispanics, subdivided into Island Puerto Ricans and Mainland Hispanics; African Americans; and Mainland Non-Hispanic, Non-African Americans. Correlates considered include stressful life events, birth defects, low birth weight, learning difficulties, teen mothers, family environment, marital adjustment, social competence, parental monitoring, and family relationships. Logistic regression was used to determine the association of outcomes with individual correlates and of interaction terms with ethnicity. Differences between adjusted rates and observed rates of disorders and levels of antisocial behaviors are compared to estimate the extent to which each correlate explains the group differences in rates. Island Puerto Ricans had a lower prevalence of CD, ODD, and various levels of antisocial behavior than mainland Hispanics, African Americans, and non-Hispanic Whites. The lower prevalence appears to be associated with differences in the extent to which a number of these correlates are found on the island, the most salient being better family relations between the target children and their parents and siblings.     

青少年时间管理倾向量表的编制

时间管理倾向是个体在运用时间方式上所表现出来的心理和行为特征,具有多维度多层次的心理结构。参照有关文献并结合国内的广泛调查研究,编制出我国青少年时间管理倾向量表。通过对1027名大中学生的探索性因素分析和507名大中学生的验证性因素分析,结果表明时间管理倾向问卷由时间价值感(社会取向和个人取向的时间价值感)、时间监控观(设置目标、计划、优先级、时间分配和反馈性)和时间效能感(时间管理效能和时间管理行为效能)三个维度构成。该量表的因素结构清晰,信度和效度较好,可以作为评鉴青少年时间管理倾向的有效工具。     

The ties that bind what is known to the recognition of what is new

Recognition success varies with how information is encoded (e.g., level of processing) and with what is already known as a result of past learning (e.g., word frequency). This article presents the results of experiments showing that preexisting connections involving the associates of studied words facilitate their recognition regardless of whether the words are intentionally encoded or are incidentally encoded under semantic or nonsemantic conditions. Words are more likely to be recognized when they have either more resonant connections coming back to them from their associates or more connections among their associates. Such results occur even though attention is never drawn to these associates. Regression analyses showed that these connections affect recognition independently of frequency, so the present results add to the literature showing that prior lexical knowledge contributes to episodic recognition. In addition, equations that use free-association data to derive composite strength indices of resonance and connectivity were evaluated. Implications for theories of recognition are discussed.     

A build-it-yourself inexpensive lock-out device

This paper describes a low-cost easily constructed and readily portable "lock-out system" suitable for college bowl and related quiz games. Suggestions on how to use the device are presented.     

大学生考期应激的特征及原因分析

旨在研究考期应激的表现特征,并探讨其产生的原因和影响因素。以问卷方法测量了261名在校大学生。结果发现47．89％的被试有不同程度的考期应激症状,其中以睡眠症状为最典型的特征。考期应激症状很少受性别、专业、年级、是否担任班干部和个性倾向等因素的影响,且具有较明显的时间特征。诱发考期应激的主要因素有：考生“对考试目的的认知”、“对考试内容的认知”及“生恬和学习环境”等。结论为,考期应激是一种大学生中较普遍且具有多重原因的应激现象。     

从面孔模块到马赛克──视觉特异性加工的脑机制

“脑功能的模块性”是视觉乃至整个认知神经科学的研究热点。特异性的面孔加工模块被当作是认知模块假说的最好证据。但综述跨学科的正反两方面实验证据表明,视觉加工存在特异性,并没有普遍的模块式的亚单元,而是“马赛克”镶嵌式的组构。     

汉语句子可继续性对句子理解加工的即时影响

通过操纵动词与后接词的关系,来产生搭配异常并控制句子的可继续性,研究汉语词汇信息在句子加工中的即时作用。实验一利用跨通道技术,发现动一名词搭配异常对目标名词的加工有即时影响,形容词条件下可继续性对目标形容词的加工有即时影响;实验二采用眼动技术,发现名词条件和形容词条件下可继续性均有显著的即时影响。结果显示,语义等多种词汇信息被通达后立即共同参与了汉语句子加工。     

保险推销员(职业)自我效能感量表的建构

在对保险推销员自我效能感进行理论分析、现场访谈和问卷调查之基础上,采用探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析技术,对保险推销员自我效能感的内在结构进行了探讨。结果表明,保险推销员自我效能感由八个因素构成,即：晤谈技能、仪态、毅力、情绪调节、知识掌握、计划总结、直觉判断和前期准备。在此基础上,依据心理测量学原理和方法研制了保险推销员自我效能感量表。由此,保险推销员应从这八个方面来判断自己保险推销的总体素质。