人为什么要有道德?(上)

本文从道德哲学的角度提出“人为什么要有道德?”的问题,并尝试给出某种解答。通过“善(好)生活”、“利益(关系)”和“人性(潜能)”三个核心概念,作者力图阐明道德之于人类生活的内在性,并从人类的生活目的、行为方式和人性潜能三个基本方面,揭示人类道德生活所内含的美德一目的论与规范一道义论之双重维度。     

Estrogen treatment alleviates NMDA-antagonist induced hippocampal LTP blockade and cognitive deficits in ovariectomized mice

Estrogen is implicated in hippocampus-dependent spatial learning as well as structural organization and electrophysiological properties of the rat hippocampus but little is known about its mechanisms of action in mice. In this study, we investigated pharmacologically whether estrogen interacts with the hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in ovariectomized mice as postulated for rats. Female C57BL/6J mice were ovariectomized at 5 months, and 2 weeks before testing at 12 months, half of them received subcutaneous estrogen pellets containing 0.18 mg of 17 beta-estradiol. The competitive NMDA-antagonist, 3-((+/-)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP), was administered at 5.0 and 10.0 microM to block induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal slice and intraperitoneally at 0.5, 2.0, and 5.0 mg/kg to impair spatial learning in the water maze. Estrogen treatment shifted the dose-response curve to CPP in both experiments. First, 10 microM CPP blocked the initiation of LTP in all mice, but 5 microM only in ovariectomized non-estrogen-treated mice. Second, final level of acquisition and probe trial performance in the water maze were less affected by high doses of CPP in the estrogen-treated ovariectomized mice than in non-treated group. In control tests for motor side effects, estrogen treatment did not reduce the tendency of CPP to decrease locomotor activity in the open field and impair balance on a rotating rod, and estrogen by itself decreased swimming speed as did CPP, but these effects did not interact. Our findings support the notion that estrogen treatment increases the number of active NMDA-receptors in the mouse hippocampus.     

Representation of plans: activation in memory

The purpose of this study is to examine the temporal representation of plans in memory. Two experiments using a priming paradigm were conducted to investigate which plans would be activated in memory when participants processed a particular plan. The 64 undergraduates who participated in Experiment 1 were asked to memorise a 1-month schedule of plans. Results showed that when participants were presented with a particular plan as a prime, the preceding plan in the schedule was immediately activated. After the activation of the preceding plan, the plan following the prime plan in the schedule was activated. Experiment 2 was conducted to examine whether the sequential effect found in Experiment 1 might be based on day order (e.g., plans for day 1, plans for day 2, etc.) or simple ordering of plans (e.g., plan 1, plan 2, etc.). However, in the results of Experiment 2, with 48 undergraduate participants, the dynamic transition in the activation of plans along the time course, seen in Experiment 1, was not observed.     

A note on ROC analysis and non-parametric estimate of sensitivity

In the signal detection paradigm, the non-parametric index of sensitivity A′, as first introduced by Pollack and Norman (1964), is a popular alternative to the more traditional d′ measure of sensitivity. Smith (1995) clarified a confusion about the interpretation of A′ in relation to the area beneath proper receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and provided a formula (which he called A′′) for this commonly held interpretation. However, he made an error in his calculations. Here, we rectify this error by providing the correct formula (which we call A) and compare the discrepancy that would have resulted. The corresponding measure for bias b is also provided. Since all such calculations apply to “proper” ROC curves with non-decreasing slopes, we also prove, as a separate result, the slope-monotonicity of ROC curves generated by likelihood-ratio criterion.This revised article was published online in August 2005 with the PDF paginated correctly.     

Facilitation of motor evoked potentials and H-reflexes of flexor carpi radialis muscle induced by voluntary teeth clenching

In order to examine the effects of remote facilitation on cortical and spinal sites, we recorded motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and H-reflexes from the flexor carpi radialis muscle of 13 healthy subjects. The H-reflex was used to assess excitability changes at the spinal level, while the MEP following transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to study excitability changes at the cortical level. We induced remote facilitation by means of voluntary teeth clenching (VTC), the so-called Jendrassik maneuver, because this procedure is known to be effective and reliable. Although the facilitation induced by VTC was observed in both evoked potentials (i.e., H-reflex and MEP), which is consistent with previous reports, MEP onset latencies were shortened by VTC in proportion to an increased MEP amplitude, whereas the latencies of the H-reflex were not. Furthermore, statistically significant relationships between MEP latencies and amplitudes were observed in all subjects, whereas no such relationships were observed for the H-reflex. On the basis of these results, two neural pathways are presumed: one involving a release of pre-synaptic inhibition at the spinal level and the other involving an unmasking of lateral excitatory projections at the cortical level.     

The influence of working memory on the anger superiority effect

The anger superiority effect shows that an angry face is detected more efficiently than a happy face. However, it is still controversial whether attentional allocation to angry faces is a bottom-up process or not. We investigated whether the anger superiority effect is influenced by top-down control, especially working memory (WM). Participants remembered a colour and then searched for differently coloured facial expressions. Just holding the colour information in WM did not modulate the anger superiority effect. However, when increasing the probabilities of trials in which the colour of a target face matched the colour held in WM, participants were inclined to direct attention to the target face regardless of the facial expression. Moreover, the knowledge of high probability of valid trials eliminated the anger superiority effect. These results suggest that the anger superiority effect is modulated by top-down effects of WM, the probability of events and expectancy about these probabilities.     

双言舌尖现象的产生机制：来自粤语-普通话双言者的证据

舌尖现象(Tip-of-the-Tongue phenomenon, TOT)是言语产生中的一种常见现象。国外研究发现, 双语者和单语者的舌尖现象差异很大。双言和双语既相似, 又存在差异。以粤语–普通话双言者为被试, 比较了普通话熟练和不熟练的被试在使用不同语言命名时的TOT产生率。结果发现：(1)粤语–普通话双言者的TOT率受普通话熟练程度影响。普通话不熟练的粤语–普通话双言者用普通话命名时产生更高的TOT率。(2)语言启动能够调节粤语–普通话双言者的普通话熟练程度与TOT产生的关系。在语言启动条件下, 普通话熟练的粤语–普通话双言者的TOT率更高。(3)粤语–普通话双言者的TOT产生机制符合部分激活理论的预言。     

Effects of modally completed surfaces on change detection

The phenomenon of change blindness suggests that we have a severe capacity limitation in scene perception. The storage of surface representations can overcome this limitation by providing efficient cues about objects in the world. Five experiments examined whether subjective surfaces are preferentially processed in visual short-term memory (VSTM) in a change detection task using a flicker paradigm. Even with the same amount of physical change applied to the figures, people were faster and more accurate in detecting a change involving the presence and absence of a subjective surface than in detecting changes involving subjective contours or rotational symmetry. The effects were not solely due to the configuration of the inducers or to the attentional set. The advantage for the subjective surface reflects the faster encoding into VSTM. Modally completed surfaces play important roles not only in visual perception and search, but also in visual cognition involving VSTM.     

Transformational leadership and customer service: A moderated mediation model of negative affectivity and emotion regulation

Integrating theories from leadership, emotion management, affectivity, and customer service, this study examines how transformational leadership leads to favourable customer intentions via the mediation of service employees' emotion regulation, job satisfaction, and their service performance and via the moderation of employee negative affectivity. Results obtained from data of 204 matched sets of managers, service employees, and customers show that the effect of transformational leadership on amplification of pleasant emotions was conditioned on service employees' negative affectivity. Employee service performance partially mediated the effect of job satisfaction on customer outcomes. Finally, overall results reveal that transformational leadership and amplification of pleasant emotions were more strongly related to the customer outcomes, as mediated through the intervening variables in the model, when negative affectivity was high than when negative affectivity was low. Results have implications for how service workers with negative affectivity can manage their emotions to achieve effective service outcomes through interactions with a leader, how the effect of transformational leadership can be bounded, and how transformational leadership and emotion regulation are relevant to customer service.