The role of inhibitory control in the development of analogical reasoning: From general to specific

This study examined the role of inhibitory control in the development of analogical reasoning using inter-task priming paradigms. In Experiment 1, 25 seven-year-olds, 27 nine-year-olds, and 27 adults completed Stroop tasks, which activated general inhibitory control ability, before analogical reasoning tasks. Children and adults performed faster on analogical reasoning tasks when they were primed by Stroop tasks. This priming effect was found to be stronger in children than in adults. In Experiment 2, 25 seven-year-olds, 28 nine-year-olds, and 28 adults completed relative number matching tasks, a more task-relevant inhibitory control task, before analogical reasoning tasks. The children and adults performed faster on analogical reasoning tasks when primed by relative number matching tasks. The priming effect was greater in seven-year-olds than in nine-year-olds and was greater in nine-year-olds than in adults. Thus, inhibitory control, whether assessed with general or specific tasks, played a priming role in analogical reasoning.     

智旭对《周易·大过卦》的佛学解读

晚明高僧智旭所撰的《周易禅解》是易学史上首部系统地以佛解易的佳作。本文探讨了其中解《大过卦》的一节。在这一节中，智旭通过对《大过卦》的佛学解读，依傍《大过卦》中的易学原理阐明了佛教修行中“定”与“慧”的互利关系，指出只有“定慧兼济”、“定慧双修”才能最终修成正果，并告诫要防范因“定”或“慧”太过而造成的“增上慢”或“枯木禅”现象。最后笔者指明了智旭以佛解易对现代易学解释的启示。     

Blue Monday Is Real for Suicide: A Case–Control Study of 188,601 Suicides

Many studies have reported that suicides tend to occur on Mondays. However, owing to a lack of controls, conclusive findings on the potential effects of a day of the week on suicides have been lacking. We analyzed public data for causes of death from 1997 to 2015 in the Republic of Korea. Accidental death was used as a control group. The probability of suicide on each day of the week according to age group was calculated. A total of 377,204 deaths (188,601 suicides and 188,603 accidental deaths) were used. The frequency of suicide was highest on Monday and decreased throughout the week until Saturday. Accidental death was highest on Saturday and showed no variations according to weekday. For people in their teens and 20s, the probabilities of suicide on Monday were 9% and 10% higher, respectively, than those on Sunday. As age increased, the differences in suicide probability according to the day of the week were attenuated. The so‐called Blue Monday effect is real, particularly for people in their teens and 20s. Suicide prevention strategies that aim to attenuate the burden and stress of Mondays should be planned.