Young children can extend motion verbs to point-light displays

In the first study using point-light displays (lights corresponding to the joints of the human body) to examine children's understanding of verbs, 3-year-olds were tested to see if they could perceive familiar actions that corresponded to motion verbs (e.g., walking). Experiment 1 showed that children could extend familiar motion verbs (e.g., walking and dancing) to videotaped point-light actions shown in the intermodal preferential looking paradigm. Children watched the action that matched the requested verb significantly more than they watched the action that did not match the verb. In Experiment 2, the findings of Experiment 1 were validated by having children spontaneously produce verbs for these actions. The use of point-light displays may illuminate the factors that contribute to verb learning.     

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).     

文本信息的激活与整合：阅读优生与差生的比较

探讨阅读优生与差生文本阅读过程中文本信息的激活与整合模式,包括3个实验。实验一通过运用不一致实验范式（inconsistent paradigm）考察阅读优生与阅读差生能否形成整体连贯性与局部连贯性。结果发现,阅读差生难以形成整体连贯性。实验二运用探测－核证范式（probe-verification paradigm）通过比较在三个位置后（人物特征描述、填充段落、目标句）的探测句的反应时间,探讨阅读差生不能形成整体连贯性的原因是由于不能激活先前的信息,还是整合信息时出现了问题。结果发现阅读差生与优生一样都可以激活先前的信息,说明阅读差生不能形成整体连贯性的原因可能是整合的问题。实验三进一步验证了阅读差生不能形成整体连贯性的原因是由于不能把已经激活的信息很好地加以整合所致。     

试论道教内丹术与命门水火概念的变迁

道教内丹术对中医命门学说的形成具有重要的影响。自《内经》、《难经》有关命门的论述以后,道教丹经对命门进行深入的探讨,包括命门位置、形态及功能等基本概念。元气说与心肾水火相结合而产生了命门水火这一概念。本文意在对命门学说形成之前,对相关历史时期丹经著作中命门相关位置、功能的概念变迁作初步研究,从而揭示这一变迁过程中道教内丹术的实际贡献。     

反事实思维两大理论：范例说和目标－指向说

反事实思维是个体对不真实的条件或可能性进行替换的一种思维过程。该文通过综合国外许多研究者的研究成果,探讨了反事实思维的定义、分类以及反事实思维的两大理论：范例说和目标－指向说。范例说认为反事实思维的激发是自动化过程,影响反事实思维产生的因素包括：正常性、结果的效价、与替代结果的接近性、前提的突变性和前提的突出性。目标－指向说则认为反事实思维的激发过程同样受目标、情绪控制、态度等认知因素的影响     

英美法系中的心理学专家证人

专家证人指的是根据法庭的要求,依靠专业知识和技术,就法庭审案过程中所涉及的有关本专业的内容,向法庭提供的有科学依据的书面报告并直接出庭作证的各学科的专家。心理学专家证人就是心理学专家作为专家证人进行出庭作证。英美法系与我国实行的大陆法系存在着差异,该文希望通过系统地介绍英美法系心理学专家证人的发展历史及作用、心理学专家证人的工作程序、存在的争议、已有的实证研究等,为国内法律界和心理学界开辟一个新的视角,并探讨心理学专家证人在我国司法系统实施的可能性     

城市化进程中被征地新居民的心理反应与需求状况研究

以东、西部被征地新居民为对象,通过访谈和问卷调查,着重考察了被征地新居民对土地被征用的情绪反应、行为变化和需求状况。结果发现:大多数被征地新居民都为土地被征用而担心生计问题;在土地被征用后,只有个别被征地新居民(不到6.4%)的生活水平和生活满意度有所提高,但比较西部地区,东部地区被征地新居民的情形要好得多;绝大多数被征地新居民虽然迫切希望解决他们所面临的问题,但尚无如何帮助他们的具体建议、也无自身如何努力的具体方向。研究认为,有关部门应加强对被征地新居民的再社会化培训和教育。     

中学教师教学风格和工作满意度的研究

本研究以上海市四所中学的153名教师为研究对象,进行了教师教学风格量表和工作满意度量表的施测。研究结果表明：（1）从总体上看,教师的教学风格以激进型、立法型、评判型和整体型四种教学风格为主,这四种教学风格是相对复杂、有创造性、效率较高的教学风格;（2）中学教师对同事关系的满意度最高,对自我实现和学校领导的满意度也较高,而对学生素质的满意度最低,其次为工资福利;（3）随着教龄的增长,教师对工作压力和工资福利的满意度逐渐下降;（4）对工作的满意度越高,教师越可能具有立法型、评判型、激进型和整体型四种教学风格,而教师对工作压力不满则倾向于采取消极、保守的教学风格。     

幼儿对生气和伤心情绪倾向同伴的接受性比较

本研究通过生气-伤心两可情景,考察了116名4~6岁幼儿对生气和伤心倾向同伴的认知偏好,并通过二选一的封闭式访谈考察幼儿对生气和伤心情绪结果的理解,以反映幼儿的偏好原因。结果表明:①从认知上看,相比生气倾向的同伴,幼儿更偏好伤心倾向的同伴。②5岁、6岁组幼儿比4岁组幼儿更偏好伤心倾向的同伴。③在情绪结果理解上,幼儿认为生气引发他人更多的远离,伤心引发他人更多的目标恢复、道歉和趋近。可见,生气倾向的幼儿比伤心倾向的幼儿更不被同伴接受。