The Impact of Household Assets on Child Well-being: Evidence from China

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study examined the impact of household assets on multiple dimensions of child well-being using data on 2,583 children aged 10–15 years and...     

Subjective Social Status of High School Freshmen in the Transitional Period: the Impact of Extraversion

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Most adolescents successfully adjust to common school transitions, but face some psychological risks. We explored the subjective social status trajectory of...     

Bonus and Penalty in Common Pool Resource Dilemmas under Uncertainty

Common pool resource (CPR) dilemmas constitute a class of social dilemmas in which equilibrium behavior results in Pareto deficient outcomes that are not at all desirable by the group. We focus on a class of CPR dilemmas that, in addition to strategic uncertainty about the harvesting behavior of the other group members, include environmental uncertainty about the size of the CPR. In an attempt to decrease the rate of requests from the common pool, and thereby increase individual payoffs, we extend previous research-both theoretically and experimentally-in two different directions. In the bonus treatment, a reward is given to the agent(s) who requests the least, and in the penalty treatment, a charge is imposed on the agent(s) who requests the most. We show that under equilibrium play the bonus treatment decreases total group request, whereas the penalty treatment increases it. Our experimental results do not support this prediction. Rather, both treatments considerably decrease the rate of request and, therefore, increase the rate of provision. The penalty treatment is shown to be more effective in reducing individual requests and enhancing provision rates than the bonus treatment. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Gait speed measure: the effect of different measuring distances and the inclusion and exclusion of acceleration and deceleration

The purposes of this study were to examine the effects of different distances and the inclusion and exclusion of acceleration and deceleration distances on the measurement of self-paced and fastest gait speeds in younger and older adults. The self-paced and fastest gait speeds of younger and older adults were measured over 4-m and 10-m walkways with the acceleration and deceleration distances included and excluded in the measuring distance. The results indicated gait speeds (both self-paced and fastest) measured over different distances were comparable only if a distance for acceleration and deceleration was excluded from the measuring distance to obtain stable and comparable gait speeds. Similar results were found for younger and older groups.     

Am I the Only One This Supervisor is Laughing at? Effects of Aggressive Humor on Employee Strain and Addictive Behaviors

Prior literature on humor primarily documents its positive effects on employees’ attitudes and behaviors, though increasing research on aggressive humor suggests some conflicting viewpoints. This paper proposes a model based on social comparison and attribution theories to examine the influence of supervisors’ aggressive humor on employees’ strain and addictive behaviors. The tests of the research model entailed a 2‐wave study with 243 frontline employees from 4 manufacturing companies of a group corporation in China. The results showed that supervisors’ aggressive humor with employees related positively to employees’ strain. This positive association became stronger when the supervisors did not use aggressive humor with the peers of the focal employees. Employees’ strain mediated the interactive effects of supervisors’ aggressive humor with the focal employees and those with their peers on employees’ addictive behaviors (e.g., problematic use of Internet, alcohol, and tobacco). As well as having practical implications, this study offers theoretical insights for research into humor, leadership, and addictive behaviors.     

Intergroup anxiety from the self and other: Evidence from self‐report,physiological effects,and real interactions

Intergroup anxiety has become important in understanding the success or failure of intergroup contact. In this paper, we suggest that intergroup anxiety is made up from two constructs: self‐anxiety (anxiety over thinking or doing something that is prejudiced) and other‐anxiety (anxiety that the other might do something to you). Over four studies, we show how these two dimensions have different correlates and independently predict psychophysiological reactivity to an intergroup interaction. Other‐anxiety was associated with negative intergroup attitudes and negative affect. In contrast, self‐anxiety had no simple relationship with conventional measures of intergroup attitudes but was associated with a flattening of responses that were indicative of freezing (Study 3) and simultaneous approach and avoidance (Study 4). We suggest that whereas other‐anxiety is associated with negative affect and avoidance, self‐anxiety is associated with ‘freezing’ responses to intergroup interaction. Thus, the distinction between these two constructs has important repercussions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ERP correlates of language-specific processing of auditory pitch feedback during self-vocalization

The present study investigated whether the neural correlates for auditory feedback control of vocal pitch can be shaped by tone language experience. Event-related potentials (P2/N1) were recorded from adult native speakers of Mandarin and Cantonese who heard their voice auditory feedback shifted in pitch by −50, −100, −200, or −500 cents when they sustained the vowel sound /u/. Cantonese speakers produced larger P2 amplitudes to −200 or −500 cents stimuli than Mandarin speakers, but this language effect failed to reach significance in the case of −50 or −100 cents. Moreover, Mandarin speakers produced shorter N1 latencies over the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere, whereas Cantonese speakers did not. These findings demonstrate that neural processing of auditory pitch feedback in vocal motor control is subject to language-dependent neural plasticity, suggesting that cortical mechanisms of auditory-vocal integration can be shaped by tone language experience.     

A randomized control trial of integrated care for families managing infant colic

This article presents a randomized clinical trial examining the effectiveness of a unique model of integrated care for the treatment of infant colic. Families seeking help for infant colic were randomized to either the family‐centered treatment (TX; n = 31) or standard pediatric care (SC; n = 31). All parents completed 3 days of Infant Behavior Diaries (Barr et al., 1998) and the Colic Symptom Checklist (Lester, 1997 ), Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1984 ), and Parenting Stress Index 3rd ed.‐SF (Abidin, 1995 ). TX families were seen three times by a pediatrician and a mental health clinician within 1, 2, and 6 weeks of baseline data. TX families received individualized treatment plans addressing problem areas of sleep, feeding, routine, and family mental health. SC families were seen only by their own healthcare provider. All families were visited at home by a research assistant to retrieve data at 2, 6, and 10 weeks after baseline. Family‐based treatment accelerated the rate of reduction of infant crying faster than did standard pediatric care. Infants in the TX group had more hours of sleep at 2 weeks posttreatment and spent less time feeding at 2, 6, and 10 weeks posttreatment than did SC infants. Results indicate that individualized family‐based treatment reduces infant colic more rapidly than does standard pediatric care.     

Differential recognition of pitch patterns in discrete and gliding stimuli in congenital amusia: evidence from Mandarin speakers

This study examined whether "melodic contour deafness" (insensitivity to the direction of pitch movement) in congenital amusia is associated with specific types of pitch patterns (discrete versus gliding pitches) or stimulus types (speech syllables versus complex tones). Thresholds for identification of pitch direction were obtained using discrete or gliding pitches in the syllable /ma/ or its complex tone analog, from nineteen amusics and nineteen controls, all healthy university students with Mandarin Chinese as their native language. Amusics, unlike controls, had more difficulty recognizing pitch direction in discrete than in gliding pitches, for both speech and non-speech stimuli. Also, amusic thresholds were not significantly affected by stimulus types (speech versus non-speech), whereas controls showed lower thresholds for tones than for speech. These findings help explain why amusics have greater difficulty with discrete musical pitch perception than with speech perception, in which continuously changing pitch movements are prevalent.