Alphabetic and nonalphabetic L1 effects in English word identification: a comparison of Korean and Chinese English L2 learners

Different writing systems in the world select different units of spoken language for mapping. Do these writing system differences influence how first language (L1) literacy experiences affect cognitive processes in learning to read a second language (L2)? Two groups of college students who were learning to read English as a second language (ESL) were examined for their relative reliance on phonological and orthographic processing in English word identification: Korean students with an alphabetic L1 literacy background, and Chinese students with a nonalphabetic L1 literacy background. In a semantic category judgment task, Korean ESL learners made more false positive errors in judging stimuli that were homophones to category exemplars than they did in judging spelling controls. However, there were no significant differences in responses to stimuli in these two conditions for Chinese ESL learners. Chinese ESL learners, on the other hand, made more accurate responses to stimuli that were less similar in spelling to category exemplars than those that were more similar. Chinese ESL learners may rely less on phonological information and more on orthographic information in identifying English words than their Korean counterparts. Further evidence supporting this argument came from a phoneme deletion task in which Chinese subjects performed more poorly overall than their Korean counterparts and made more errors that were phonologically incorrect but orthographically acceptable. We suggest that cross-writing system differences in L1s and L1 reading skills transfer could be responsible for these ESL performance differences.     

K-means、潜在类别模型和混合Rasch模型的比较

基于模拟研究比较了K-means方法、潜在类别模型和混合Rasch模型在二分外显变量情境下的聚类效果.结果表明：（1）潜在类别数量、变量数量、样本量、样本平衡和变量间相关对K-means方法、潜在类别模型和混合Rasch模型的分类准确性均有影响且因素间的交互作用存在;（2）除了在2个潜在类别的样本不平衡条件下K-means方法表现较差外,在其他条件下与潜在类别模型和混合Rasch模型的表现相当;（3）混合Rasch模型的分类一致性在2个潜在类别的情境下要好于潜在类别模型,但是在4个潜在类别的情境下要差于潜在类别模型.     

Flexible and unique representations of two-digit decimals

We examined the representation of two-digit decimals through studying distance and compatibility effects in magnitude comparison tasks in four experiments. Using number pairs with different leftmost digits, we found both the second digit distance effect and compatibility effect with two-digit integers but only the second digit distance effect with two-digit pure decimals. This suggests that both integers and pure decimals are processed in a compositional manner. In contrast, neither the second digit distance effect nor the compatibility effect was observed in two-digit mixed decimals, thereby showing no evidence for compositional processing of two-digit mixed decimals. However, when the relevance of the rightmost digit processing was increased by adding some decimals pairs with the same leftmost digits, both pure and mixed decimals produced the compatibility effect. Overall, results suggest that the processing of decimals is flexible and depends on the relevance of unique digit positions. This processing mode is different from integer analysis in that two-digit mixed decimals demonstrate parallel compositional processing only when the rightmost digit is relevant. Findings suggest that people probably do not represent decimals by simply ignoring the decimal point and converting them to natural numbers.     

The Associations between Perceived Maternal Psychological Control and Academic Performance and Academic Self-Concept in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

This study examined the associations between perceived maternal psychological control and adolescent academic functioning in terms of academic performance and academic self-concept. The study also tested the possible mediating role of basic psychological needs to investigate how parental psychological control is related to child academic functioning. A sample of Chinese adolescents (N?=?338) completed a self-administered questionnaire on maternal psychological control, academic self-concept, academic performance and basic psychological needs satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used for data analyses. Findings of this study revealed that Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of maternal psychological control were associated with their academic self-concept, and furthermore this association was mediated by adolescents’ basic psychological needs satisfaction on autonomy, relatedness and competence. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research directions were discussed.     

癌症患者家属人格特征、应对方式与消极情绪的关系

为探讨癌症患者家属人格特征、应对方式与消极情绪的关系,对128例癌症患者家属进行调查。结果显示,神经质、消极应对方式、癌症危险认知与消极情绪呈显著正相关;积极应对方式、外向与消极情绪呈显著负相关;外向、神经质、癌症危险认知、消极应对方式均影响癌症患者家属的消极情绪,而消极应对方式为神经质人格特征、癌症危险认知和消极情绪的中间变量。     

Learning through symbol,myth, model,and ritual

An interdisciplinary course entitled Religious and Spiritual Issues in Health Care was offered for nursing students, medical students, and seminary students. The course was designed to explore religious responses to human suffering and to examine the role of different health care professionals with regard to spiritual concerns of patients.The identification of symbol, the retelling of myth, the presentation of model, and the enactment of ritual enhanced the learning process. In the context of the universality of human suffering, professional differences were recognized and respected.Teamwork in health care is a process which can be learned cognitively and affectively by affirming and sharing professional values with other health care professions.     

SLE患者焦虑抑郁影响因素调查分析

为了探讨SLE（systemic lupus erythematosus）即系统性红斑狼疮患者焦虑抑郁心理影响因素,应用Zung焦虑自评量袁（Self—rating anxiety scale,SAS）和抑郁自评量表（self—rating depression scale,SDS）,对36例系统性红斑狼疮患者进行检测,辅以自行设计因素调查表进行相关因素调查。结果显示,SDS和SAS均分为49．70±11．3和42．13±8．9,与国内常模比较,差异有统计学意义,P〈0．01。单因素分析显示：对疾病的恐惧感、对病情了解程度、治疗效果、药物副作用、家庭经济状况、家庭支持、婚姻关系、睡眠质量、担心事业受影响、躯体症状的反复出现、社交娱乐活动受限、担心医护不精心12项因素与SLE患者抑郁焦虑状态的发生显著相关,P〈0．01。证明SLE患者抑郁焦虑心理与对疾病的恐惧感、治疗效果、家庭经济状况、睡眠质量等因素相关,这为心理干预提供了依据。     

The Family Life and Adjustment of Hmong American Sons and Daughters

We examined gender differences in intergenerational family conflict and its associations with psychological and academic adjustment using a United States sample of 121 Hmong American first-year college students. Hmong women and men reported similar levels of family conflict. Family conflict was related to psychological distress, above and beyond neuroticism. Gender moderated the relationship between family conflict and substance usage and academic performance. For Hmong college men, higher family conflict was associated with lower rates of smoking and higher rates of completing the first year of college. For Hmong college women, higher family conflict was associated with greater likelihood of alcohol consumption in their lifetime.     

Nondirectiveness and genetic counseling

Nondirectiveness is the generally required and professed standard for genetic counseling. However, studies are lacking in the field of human genetics and in other disciplines which address either the theory or practice of this type of therapeutic procedure in the context of genetic counseling. Moreover, there is no indication the further development this concept has undergone in client-centered therapy has been acknowledged in human genetics. This could be due tot he historical development of genetic counseling, its inherent conflicts and often undefined goals, and the latent need of human geneticists to defend themselves against being accused of eugenic tendencies. Nondirectiveness and directiveness, however, can neither adequately describe what takes place in genetic counseling, nor can they — according to their original meaning — be used to define an ethical standard of genetic counseling. Starting with the writings by Carl Rogers (1942), an experiential approach is described, in which counseling is seen as a process of influence, which is wished by all the persons involved, during which activities are oriented toward the experience of the client, and which allows the counselor to communicate openly and directly with the client. The present study illustrates the use of the experiential approach in genetic counseling and shows that it can uphold the principle of ethics, which nondirectiveness demands and, at the same time, prevent the inevitable and unresolvable contradictions. This means that in their training genetic counselors must learn to recognize and constantly reflect on the influence they can and want to exert. In order to be able to use this influence in a responsible manner, genetic counselors must also learn to have a certain degree of flexibility so that they are able to check at any time how their client responds to this influence.