Perception of Native English Reduced Forms in Adverse Environments by Chinese Undergraduate Students

Previous research has shown that learners of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) have difficulties in understanding connected speech spoken by native English speakers. Extending from past research limited to quiet listening condition, this study examined the perception of English connected speech presented under five adverse conditions, namely multi-talker babble noise, speech-shaped noise, factory noise, whispering and sad emotional tones. We tested a total of 64 Chinese ESL undergraduate students, using a battery of listening tasks. Results confirmed that the recognition of English native speech was more challenging for Chinese ESL learners under unfavorable listening conditions, in comparison to a noise-free listening condition. These findings carry significant implications for the importance of training and assessments on connected speech perception across various listening environments.     

A brief cognitive behavioural therapy psychoeducational group for Chinese people with chronic illnesses: an evaluation study

This pilot study attempted to examine the effectiveness of a brief cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) psychoeducational group for Chinese people with chronic illness in Hong Kong. It adopted a single group design, and 52 participants joined the group. A questionnaire with three outcome measures, measuring general mental health, quality of life and dysfunctional attitudes and beliefs, was administered to participants at pre-test, post-test and six month follow-up. Repeated measures ANOVAs were employed and revealed positive changes in most of the outcome measures across the three time points. Cohen’s d showed a moderate to large effect size for most outcome measures. From a step care perspective, a culturally attuned brief CBT psychoeducational group may serve as an early intervention and a triage to attract suitable people with chronic illness to engage in the treatment process.     

Effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on daily work-related outcomes: Comparison between younger and older Chinese workers

The existing models of emotion regulation (ER) do not make any specific prediction about the differential effects of the same ER strategy among individuals of different ages. However, such assumption may not be necessarily true, given that older adults emphasise emotional goals greater than their younger counterparts. Using a daily diary approach, this study investigated whether the effects of cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES) on daily work-related outcomes would vary by age when individuals were experiencing negative events at work. A total of 141 Chinese managerial employees (M_age = 42.40, SD = 9.16) completed the diary report for 15 consecutive workdays by recording their daily work experiences. The results of the multilevel analyses showed that age moderated the effects of ES on daily negative emotions, perceived work stress, and job satisfaction. More beneficial effects were observed among older workers than among younger workers. By contrast, the use of CR significantly lowered the levels of negative emotions and perceived work stress for both younger and older workers. These findings revealed the importance of considering the role of age in evaluating the effects of ES on work-related outcomes, which provides important implications for future research and training programs in ER.     

Female Video Game Players and the Protective Effect of Feminist Identity Against Internalized Misogyny

Sex Roles - Video games often contain sexist content that may be connected to negative consequences for female video game players, such as internalizing negative attitudes and beliefs about women....     

Common Mental Health Challenges in a University Context in Hong Kong: a Study Based on a Review of Medical Records

Applied Research in Quality of Life - While numerous studies have suggested the rising prevalence of common mental disorders amongst university students, studies examining mental health of Chinese...     

When Thinking Rationally Increases Biases: The Role of Rational Thinking Style in Escalation of Commitment

This paper reports three studies examining the relationship between the rational thinking style (RTS, i.e. individual differences in relying on a conscious, analytical, and relatively affect‐free information processing system) and decision quality in an escalation situation. In contrast to conventional wisdom that rational thinking increases decision quality, but consistent with the predictions derived from the cognitive dissonance theory, results of Studies 1 and 2 revealed that high scorers in Pacini and Epstein's (1999 ) rationality inventory were more likely to have escalation bias than were low scorers. The results further showed that only the ability component of rationality, not the engagement component, was positively correlated with escalating commitment. Similar patterns of results were obtained for situations when participants were personally responsible for prior decisions (Study 1) and when they were not (Study 2). Results of Study 3 showed that the underlying process responsible for the effect of RTS on the escalating tendency is that RTS increases beliefs in prior decisions, which in turn increases escalation. Implications for our understanding of escalation of commitment, rationality theory, and managerial practices are discussed. Cet article rend compte de 3 études examinant la relation entre le style de pensée rationnelle (RTS i.e. les différences individuelles reposent sur un système de traitement de l’information consciente, analytique et relativement libre d’affects) et la qualité de la décision dans une situation d’escalade d’engagement. Contrairement à l’opinion communément admise pour laquelle la pensée rationnelle accroît la qualité de la décision, mais consistante avec les prédictions découlant de la théorie de la dissonance cognitive, les résultats des études 1 et 2 indiquent que des personnes obtenant un score élevéà l’Inventaire Rationnel‐Expérientiel de Pacini et Esptein (1999) sont plus enclines à tomber dans le piège de l’escalade d’engagement que celles dont le score est bas. D’autres résultats montrent que la capacitéà la rationalité, non celle à l’engagement, est positivement corrélée avec l’escalade d’engagement. Des résultats semblables sont obtenus lors de situations où les participants sont personnellement responsables de leurs décisions antérieures (Etude 1) ou non (Etude 2). Les résultats de l’étude 3 montrent que le processus responsable de l’effet du RTS sur la tendance à s’engager est le suivant: il accroît les croyances dans les décisions antérieures qui augmentent à leur tour l’engagement. Ces résultats nous permettent de mieux comprendre l’escalade d’engagement, la théorie rationnelle et les pratiques managériales.     

Socially oriented achievement goals of Chinese university students in Singapore: structure and relationships with achievement motives, goals and affective outcomes

Contemporary literature on culture, self, and motivations (Markus & Kitayama, 1991) suggests that in collectivistic cultures, individual achievement is interdependent of one's social others. We proposed that this cultural characteristic could be exemplified in the achievement goal orientation and tested the notion with university students in a collectivistic community-Singapore. A socially oriented achievement goal construct was developed by taking into consideration the significant social others in the students' lives. A measuring instrument was established with a sample of Singaporean Chinese university students (N = 196; 144 females and 52 males); its relationships to achievement motives, goals, and consequences were examined. Although the socially oriented achievement goal items were originally constructed from four categories of social others, confirmatory factor analysis suggested a unifactor structure. Results showed that the socially oriented goal was related positively with students' performance goal, mastery goal, and competitive motive; it bore no relationship to mastery motive, work ethic, and interest in learning; and it predicted negatively future engagement. After the effects of mastery and performance goals were controlled for, the socially oriented goal did not predict test anxiety.     

Probe-specific proportion task repetition effects on switching costs

In two experiments, participants were presented with successive presentations of animal names (e.g., GORILLA, WHALE)--a prime display followed by a probe display. In response to each display, participants judged either the typical habitat or the relative size of those animals, repeating the same task in response to both displays on half of the experimental trials and switching from one task to the other on the other half of trials. Our results demonstrate that switch costs can be reduced when either the probe's identity or its location is predictive of a change in task. This result establishes that the presentation of a stimulus can serve as a rapid cue for facilitating a switch in task, independent of processes occurring both at the time of the prime task and during the intervening period between the prime and probe tasks. We discuss the implications of these results for prevailing explanations of task switching costs.