关于短时记忆编码方式的实验研究

本文以汉字为材料,用信号检测法对短时记忆的编码方式进行研究,实验结果表明,汉字从总体上是以形状编码为主,这与 Conrard用英文字母为材料所作实验中得到的短时记忆以声音编码为主的结论不同;同时,各类型汉字的短时记忆编码方式也有差别。上述实验结果支持了关于短时记忆随情境而变换编码策略的设想。     

乳头体和隔区在大鼠条件性味觉痕迹的形成和保存中的作用

本工作是在前一工作的基础上,进一步研究分别电损毁有关回路的乳头体、隔区,对以糖精水为条件刺激。氯化锂腹腔注射引起中毒作为非条件刺激的条件性糖精厌恶痕迹的形成和保存的影响。结果表明,无论是损毁乳头体,或者隔区,对条件性糖精厌恶痕迹的形成和保存均无影响。说明在本实验条件下,这种条件性味觉痕迹的形成与保存,不依赖边缘系统的乳头体、海马、隔区这些回路的参与,这就进一步说明味觉信号的记忆确有其不同于视、听觉信号的记忆的机制的。     

Using Daily Creativity Planning to Promote Creative Behavior

Research has demonstrated that on the path from a creative idea to a creative outcome, high creativity motivation and self-efficacy do not necessarily lead to creative behavior. The present study proposed and examined the notion that daily creativity planning could promote creative behavior and contribute to the cultivation of creativity. A total of 77 middle school students (39 students in the experimental group and 38 in the control group) participated in this study, for which a quasi-experimental design was administered. The experimental group conducted a two-week daily planning for creative activities, while the control group did not conduct any intervention. The results showed that students' creativity motivation and creative self-efficacy were at relatively high levels overall and were positively and moderately correlated with creative behavior. Daily planning could effectively facilitate students' creative behavior. These findings point to a promising and simple creativity enhancement strategy for cultivating students to develop the habit of making creative plans in their daily lives.     

Nest box entrance hole size can influence nest site selection and nest defence behaviour in Japanese tits

Animal Cognition - Birds have the ability to assess the risk of predation in their environment and adjust their antipredation strategies based on this risk information. However, whether nest site...     

Age-dependent winner–loser effects in a mangrove rivulus fish,Kryptolebias marmoratus

Animal Cognition - The outcomes of recent fights can provide individuals information about their relative fighting ability and affect their contest decisions (winner–loser effects). Most...     

Fragile promise: The role of justification in promise-breaking

People who consider themselves moral sometimes use self-serving justifications to rationalize their selfish behaviours. Previous studies have tested the role of ambiguity in justifying wrongdoings, but it remains unclear whether ambiguity also plays a role in justifying promise-breaking behaviour and whether heterogeneity exists. To investigate justification in promise-breaking, we introduced a new experimental paradigm called the card-guessing task and used hierarchical cluster analysis to classify participants based on their promise-breaking decisions in unambiguous and ambiguous conditions. Experiment 1 revealed three clusters of solutions: Cluster 1 always kept their promises (i.e., keepers); Cluster 2 only exploited the vague promises and broke their promises in the ambiguous condition (i.e., intermediates); Cluster 3 tended to take advantage of vague promises and broke their promises irrespective of ambiguity (i.e., breakers). Experiment 2 confirmed that participants in the three clusters differed in their norm-abiding preferences and social value orientations. Keepers were more altruistic and had a stronger sense of norm compliance than intermediates and breakers. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that self-serving justifications were more likely to be employed by people who are moderately sensitive to deviation from social norms, which has implications for strategic interventions and policy formulation concerning unethical behaviour.     

Do maximizing consumers engage more in conspicuous consumption?

While much of the previous research has examined the influence of consumers' social and economic states on conspicuous consumption, little attention has been paid to the potential role that consumers' decision-making tendency plays. This study investigates whether, how, and when maximizing, as a type of decision-making tendency (both dispositional and situationally primed), influences subsequent decisions regarding conspicuous consumption. Four studies were conducted, revealing that maximizing consumers are more likely to engage in conspicuous consumption than non-maximizing consumers (Studies 1 and 2). The need for status serves as the underlying mechanism behind this behavior (Study 3). In addition, the observed effect holds only when the situation is public but disappears when it is private (Study 4). As one of the first investigations into the effect that maximizing has on a type of consumption, these findings offer valuable contributions to both theory and practice.     

The complex relationship between creativity and consumer ethics depending on endemic corruption in emerging and developed countries

Creativity and ethics are two topics that are extremely important to business managers and researchers. However, only limited research has examined their relationship and has shown contradictory results: the effect of creativity on unethical behavior proves to be sometimes positive, sometimes negative. In this vein, building on social cognitive theory, we examine whether this relationship depends on a macroeconomic factor – endemic corruption – as a boundary condition. We further consider the mechanism through which creativity can lead to unethical behavior and focus on the role of subjective well-being. We collect data from 1463 individuals in two high-corruption and emerging countries, Brazil and China, and two low-corruption and developed countries, France and the United States. Based on a multi-level (or hierarchical) analysis, our results show that, in high-corruption countries, creativity is negatively related to unethical behaviors. Conversely, in low-corruption countries, the relationship is positive and mediated by subjective well-being.     

Chinese child unsociability,maternal maladaptive parenting,and peer exclusion among preschoolers: A cross-lagged model

Previous research has consistently found that unsociability is linked to adjustment difficulties in Chinese children. However, far less attention has been paid to how parents and peers react when confronted with unsociable children. In this study, we explored the longitudinal linkages among Chinese preschoolers' unsociability, maladaptive parenting, and peer exclusion. Participants were mothers and teachers of N = 391 (M_age = 4.4 years, SD = 0.91 years; 54.5% boys) preschoolers attending eight kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, followed over 8 months. Multi-source assessments were employed. Mothers rated children's unsociability and their maladaptive (physical hostility, verbal hostility, punishment) parenting practices, and teachers rated children's peer exclusion at each time point. Our results indicated that child unsociability contributed to later increases in both maladaptive parenting and peer exclusion. However, maladaptive parenting and peer exclusion could not predict later increases in unsociability. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of unsociability among Chinese children.