Mysticism in Chinese Christians and Non-Christians: Measurement Invariance of the Mysticism Scale and Implications for the Mean Differences

In this study, the authors validated the 3-factor, 8-facet model of Hood's Mysticism Scale and explored mean differences in mysticism with 330 indigenous Chinese Christian and 323 non-Christian participants. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good fit for the overall Chinese sample and established measurement invariance of the instrument across the 2 groups. Both groups scored above the midpoint on the total Mysticism Scale, whereas Christians scored significantly higher in the mystical interpretation factor than did non-Christians. Controlling for demographic variables, multiple regression procedures revealed that a high intrinsic religious orientation mediated the association of Christian religious affiliation with mysticism. These results yielded patterns consistent with those found in the West and suggested that the Mysticism Scale was a valid quantitative measure for exploring spirituality issues in Chinese society.     

The Power of One Sentient Being: The Computer Simulation of a Bodhisattva's Altruism Using Agent-based Modelling

The aim of this study is to demonstrate that agent-based simulation is a scientific approach to studying the altruistic behaviours of a Bodhisattva, who is practising Buddhism to achieve Buddhahood. From the Buddhist perspective, the evolutionary model of Hammond and Axelrod (2006a) describes the operation of a community in the world. The study shows that we can simulate a Bodhisattva as a firm-and-pure-altruist (FPA) agent, who always performs both in-group and out-group altruistic behaviours, including the preaching of doctrine and the giving of material objects, and who always remains an FPA agent. Based on the model of Hammond and Axelrod (2006a), ordinary human beings are modelled as four-type agents who evolve according to their genetic potential to reproduce. Our results show that a Bodhisattva can create more pure altruists in the community by sharing doctrine and material objects. The results also show a beneficial situation because the average welfare of all four agents increases if we consider average fitness as a measure of welfare, according to Becker (1976).     

Thinking animals, disagreement, and skepticism

According to Eric Olson, the Thinking Animal Argument (TAA) is the best reason to accept animalism, the view that we are identical to animals. A novel criticism has been advanced against TAA, suggesting that it implicitly employs a dubious epistemological principle. I will argue that other epistemological principles can do the trick of saving the TAA, principles that appeal to recent issues regarding disagreement with peers and experts. I conclude with some remarks about the consequence of accepting these modified principles, drawing out some general morals in defending animalism.     

Effects of Local and Global Context on Processing Sentences with Subject and Object Relative Clauses

An eye tracking study investigated the effects of local and global discourse context on the processing of subject and object relative clauses, whereby the contexts favored either a subject relative clause interpretation or an object relative clause interpretation. The fixation data replicated previous studies showing that object relative clause sentences were more difficult to process than subject relative sentences. Crucially, however, the reading difficulty asymmetry between subject and object relative clause sentences disappeared when the sentences were presented with a local or a global discourse context that favored the objects in the object relative clauses. These findings demonstrate that the evidence for a syntax-based account of sentence processing is found when sentences are presented in isolation. However, if sentences are placed more naturally, in context, discourse factors outweigh the initial structural assignment.     

The influence of semantic property and grammatical class on semantic selection

Research to-date has not successfully demonstrated consistent neural distinctions for different types of ambiguity or explored the effect of grammatical class on semantic selection. We conducted a relatedness judgment task using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to further explore these topics. Participants judged relatedness within word pairs. Consistent and inconsistent conditions were included along with filler items. Imaging results revealed a main effect of ambiguity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and parietal cortices. A main effect of grammatical class was observed in the parahippocampal and lingual gyri, and a main effect of consistency was found in the DLPFC, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and occipital cortices. Interactions among these factors were observed in the cingulate gyrus and motor cortices in addition to the DLPFC. These results suggest that both ambiguity type and grammatical class modulate semantic selection through different neural regions.     

Non-selective lexical access in bilinguals is spontaneous and independent of input monitoring: Evidence from eye tracking

Language non-selective lexical access in bilinguals has been established mainly using tasks requiring explicit language processing. Here, we show that bilinguals activate native language translations even when words presented in their second language are incidentally processed in a nonverbal, visual search task. Chinese–English bilinguals searched for strings of circles or squares presented together with three English words (i.e., distracters) within a 4-item grid. In the experimental trials, all four locations were occupied by English words, including a critical word that phonologically overlapped with the Chinese word for circle or square when translated into Chinese. The eye-tracking results show that, in the experimental trials, bilinguals looked more frequently and longer at critical than control words, a pattern that was absent in English monolingual controls. We conclude that incidental word processing activates lexical representations of both languages of bilinguals, even when the task does not require explicit language processing.     

乐商:一个比智商和情商更能决定命运的因素

乐商(或乐观智力)是指人乐观的能力,它既包括一个人乐观水平的高低,也包括个体从所经历的消极事件中获取积极成分的能力,以及影响或感染他人的能力.“杜乡微笑”是高乐商的一种主要外在表现形式.心理学过去的有关研究证实,高乐商不仅有利于个体的社会性发展、获得稳定的幸福婚姻、提高人的生理健康水平、提高学业成绩和减少坏事情的发生,而且高乐商还有利于促使个体寻求社会支持和社会交往.这些研究结果表明,乐商可能是一个比智商和情商更能决定人未来发展命运的因素.     

控制还是适应:次级控制研究的两种取向

次级控制是人在控制动机受威胁时的一种应对策略,它最初被定义为个体试图适应世界,顺应形势的过程.该概念在发展中被赋予了不同的解释,产生了所谓控制取向与适应取向的分歧.这两种取向在次级控制与首要控制的关系,次级控制与控制感的关系,以及次级控制的跨文化一致性问题上存在着分歧.近年来补偿性控制模型与健康领域的次级控制研究分别在概念上和功能上提供了整合两取向的可能性.未来研究应致力于进一步整合两取向的定义,扩展其研究的视野,并通过更多地使用实验法,来加强对其影响因素的研究.     

创伤个体注意控制、焦虑及情绪对闯入记忆的影响

以往研究认为认知控制在闯入记忆的发展中起一定作用。研究以83名大学生本科生为被试,采用创伤电影范式和问卷调查结合的方式,旨在考察创伤个体注意控制、焦虑及情绪对闯入记忆的影响。结果显示,注意控制、焦虑和情绪与闯入记忆相关;注意控制和观看创伤电影前的消极情绪对闯入记忆有一定的预测作用;注意控制与焦虑、情绪相关;高低注意控制组分别在焦虑、情绪上差异显著。注意控制、焦虑、创伤前负性情绪与闯入记忆相关;注意控制、创伤前负性情绪显著影响闯入记忆。 关键词：闯入记忆;注意控制;焦虑;情绪;创伤