A human-centered approach for designing World-Wide Web browsers

Because the World-Wide Web has features that are not found in traditional information systems, it has some unique problems pertaining to human use, such as the difficulty of searching for specific information. This paper describes human cognitive limitations pertinent to the design of Web browsers and provides a conceptual model for human information processing on the Web. It also compares user strategies and use of browser functions for two tasks that differ in the specificity of the information that is to be retrieved. General principles and specific recommendations for the design of Web browsers are derived from these considerations.     

6 15岁儿童对友谊特性的认知发展

研究目的：（１）考察我国儿童、青少年的友谊特性的认知发展规律和特点;（２）探讨儿童友谊特性的认知结构。研究采用结构访谈法,被试为来自北京市普通幼儿园、小学和中学的６岁、８岁、１０岁、１２岁和１５岁儿童共１００名（每个年龄组２０名,男女各半）。结果发现：（１）６—１５岁儿童对友谊特性的认知结构由５个维度组成,即：个人交流和冲突解决,榜样和竞争,互相欣赏,共同活动和互相帮助,亲密交往。（２）对６—１５岁儿童,友谊特性中的５个维度的重要性次序为：共同活动和互相帮助,个人交流和冲突解决,榜样和竞争,互相欣赏,亲密交往。（３）从发展上来看,对友谊特性不同维度的认知发展趋势有很大年龄差异。６—８岁儿童只能认识到友谊特性中一些外在的、行为的特征;以后才能逐渐认识到那些内在的、情感性的特征。但是,原来那些外在的特征并没有随着儿童年龄的增长而被取代,而是与内在的、情感性的特性结合在一起,在认识中逐渐深化。（４）小学六年级儿童在共同活动和游戏上表现出性别差异（男生高于女生）;而在冲突解决上,女生的认知水平高于男生。此外,初中三年级学生在互相欣赏方面,男生的认识水平高于女生     

Deconstructing Dispositional Bias in Clinical Inference: Two Interventions

In this study, the authors examined the effectiveness of instruction in attribution processes and practice in empathic perspective taking in deconstructing dispositional bias of counselor trainees. Videotaped stimulus cases and a clinical attribution scale were used to assess the treatment effects when compared with a placebo control condition. Results revealed significant differences among groups. Counselor trainees receiving either of the 2 interventions showed significantly lower dispositional bias in responding to videotaped clinical cases than did their counterparts in the placebo condition. The study points to a need for a paradigm shift from a person-focused to a system-focused approach in counseling practice. Implications also point to the need for including critical thinking and empathic experiencing in clinical training     

Book reviews

Enlightenment East and West Leonard Angel, 1994 Albany, State University of New York Press 388 pp.

Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism Bernard Faure, trans, by Phyius Brooks, 1996 Princeton, Princeton University Press 329 pp.

Pāli Buddhism. Curzon Studies in Asian Philosophy Frank J. Hoffman & Deegaixe Mahinda (Eds), 1996 Richmond, Curzon Press xiii + 233 pp., ISBN 0 7007 0359 4, hb £40

Friendship East and West: philosophical perspectives Oliver Leaman (Ed.), 1996 Richmond UK, Curzon Press ix + 288 pp., ISBN 0 7007 0358 6, hb £40

Heidegger's Hidden Sources: East Asian Influences on his work Reinhard May, trans, by GRAHAM PARKES, 1996 London, Routledge xviii+ 121 pp., hb £35.00, pb £11.99

The Social Self in Zen and American Pragmatism Steve Odin, 1996 Albany, SUNY Press xvi + 482 pp., ISBN 0 9714 2492 8, pb $24.95

The Art of living. Aesthetics of the Ordinary in World Spiritual Traditions Crispin Sartwell, 1995 Albany, State University of New York Press xiv+ 163 pp., hb

East‐West Encounters in Philosophy and Religion Ninian Smart & B. Srinivasa Murthy (Eds), 1997 London, Sangam Books xxiii + 411 pp., ISBN 0 8613 2375 0, hb £24.95

Confucianism and Christianity: a comparative study of Jen and Agape Xinzhong Yao, 1996 Brighton, Sussex Academic Press viii+ 164 pp., ISBN 1 8987 2325 7, hb £35 and $55     

Stress and Social Support in Parents whose Children are Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Carriers: A Comparison of Three Groups in Guangzhou

The present study compared the moderating effect of social support on parental stress variables and mental health among three groups of parents: parents of HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) children who attended the special health kindergarten, parents of HBV children who stayed at home, and parents of healthy children who attended the ordinary kindergarten. These families resided in the city of Guangzhou. A set of questionnaires measuring parental stress and social support were given to the mothers after a one-hour interview. Results showed that parents of HBV children were significantly more stressed and psychologically at risk than parents of healthy children. They also sought help from social resources more often than the parents of healthy children. Parents of healthy children who attended the ordinary kindergarten reported the highest levels of overall social support, i.e. the number of very close friends and relatives with whom they could form close emotional attachments. Although they reported a lower number of acquaintances available, they also reported the most satisfactory relationships with the support provided by their acquaintances, lower levels of stress, fewer somatic problems, more adequate general health, and more perceived meaning in life than did parents of HBV children, and social support is one of the main influences on stress or parental health. The findings call for further research to focus on parents' well-being and social support that is helpful in addressing the needs of the family.     

Analogical transfer: From schematic pictures to problem solving

A series of experiments was conducted to explore whether individuals can solve problems by transferring conceptual information gained from schematic pictures and to examine the mechanisms involved in this transfer process. Subjects viewed a schematic picture and then attempted to solve an insight problem to which the conceptual information from the picture could be applied. The results indicate that the degree of similarity—specifically, superficial and procedural similarity—between a source schematic picture and the target problem determined transfer performance. Discussion focuses on the relationship between these two types of similarity and the two key cognitive components involved in transferring pictorial analogies to solve problems: accessing the pictorial analogues and executing the solutions. Portions of this research were presented at the 33rd meeting of the Psychonomic Society in St. Louis, November 1992.     

Counseling applications of RET in a Chinese cultural context

To explore the potential of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) with clients of Chinese background, a brief review is conducted with respect to parallels between RET philosophy and some key components of Chinese culture and ways in which Chinese think. Arguments are advanced as to why RET is particularly suitable for use within a Chinese cultural context. Issues involved in using RET with Chinese clients are addressed including the appreciation many Chinese have for the logical and rational aspects of RET, the most appropriate type of client-counselor relationship to facilitate RET therapeutic progress, appropriate ways to dispute, and some cautionary words on the use of “emotive methods”. Areas where the RET counselor needs to be particularly sensitive to the cultural background of the client are highlighted. Charles P. Chen holds a master's degree in educational counseling and is currently a Ph.D. student and instructor in the Department of Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His interests include cross-cultural and multi-cultural counseling, career counseling, and group counseling.     

Alienation: A Symptomatic Reaction of Educated Unemployed Youth in India

A 21-item 4-point Alienation Scale (Kureshi & Dutt, 1979) in Hindi was administered to a randomly selected group of 400 educated youth equally divided into: (1) technically educated unemployed, (2) non-technically educated unemployed, (3) technically educated employed, and (4) non-technically educated employed. This scale aimed to ascertain in these subjects comparative degrees of feeling of alienation and its dimensions. Results of statistical comparison revealed that the technically and the non-technically educated unemployed youth, as compared to their employed counterparts, evinced relatively a greater vulnerability to the feeling of alienation and its dimensions, though the latter were also moderately susceptible in this regard. Further, it was found that the technically educated unemployed youth were more prone to alienation and its dimensions and the non-technically educated employed youth were the least affected, with the non-technically educated unemployed and the technically educated employed youth in second and third places respectively. The study also indicated a close association between different dimensions of alienation, both with each other and with the total scale scores.     

语义联系类型和强度对预期推理生成的制约作用

首先采用开放式问卷实验方法,由被试生成日常生活中的事件以及组成这些事件的各种活动和活动的参加者。然后,对这些事件熟悉性、对活动的典型性和可区分性三个维度进行主观评价,形成事件以及每个事件活动序列,并据此编制实验材料。实验主要考察活动的典型性和可区分性对于熟悉性高的事件的预期推理的影响,以及不同工作记忆能力的被试进行事件预期推理时的加工模式。实验结果表明：（１）高工艺记忆能力的被试对事件的预期量小于     

LTP诱导期向维持或转化过程中的突触形态学特征

该研究探讨了视皮层ＬＴＰ由诱导期向维持期转化过程的突触形态学特征。实验选用１８－３０天龄的健康ＳＤ大鼠,分实验组、空白对照组及实验对照组进行电镜观测和图象分析。结果发现,在常规ＬＴＰ实验程序中强直刺激后有ＬＴＰ产生并记录８０分钟的实验组脑片标片,局部有界面曲率大于２的较大Ｕ型突触形成,这种突触多有两个以上活性区。图象分析结果显示,实验组与对照组相比较,突触的界面曲率明显增大（Ｐ〈０．０５）,活性区