Effects of parental expectations and cultural-values orientation on career decision-making difficulties of Chinese University students

This study examined the effects of cultural-values conflict and parental expectations on the career decision-making difficulties of university students in three cities in China (Beijing, Wuhan, and Hong Kong, N = 1342). The Multidimensional Scales of Individual Traditionality and Modernity (Yang, Yu, & Ye, 1989) were used as a measure of cultural-values conflict and cultural orientation. The Living-Up-to Parental Expectation Inventory (Wang & Heppner, 2002) was used to measure parental expectations. The Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (Gati & Saka, 2001) was used as a dependent measure. It was found that levels of cultural-value conflict were associated with higher levels of career decision-making difficulties for students in the Chinese Mainland cities but not for students in Hong Kong. Perceived parental expectations and perceived self-performance in the expected areas were found to be predictive of career decision-making difficulties. Cultural-value orientation, especially endorsement of Chinese traditional values, was found to moderate the relationship between parental expectation and career decision-making difficulties. Theoretical, research and practical implications of findings were discussed.     

Putting their best foot forward: emotional disclosure on facebook

Abstract Facebook has become a widely used online self-representation and communication platform. In this research, we focus on emotional disclosure on Facebook. We conducted two studies, and results from both self-report and observer rating show that individuals are more likely to express positive relative to negative emotions and present better emotional well-being on Facebook than in real life. Our study is the first to demonstrate impression management on Facebook through emotional disclosure. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of our study.     

Preference for simple interval schedules of reinforcement in concurrent chains: Effects of segmentation ratio

A concurrent-chains procedure was used to examine pigeons' preferences between segmented and unsegmented terminal-link schedules of reinforcement. During the initial link, a pair of independent, concurrent variable-interval 60-s schedules was in effect. In the terminal link, reinforcement was provided by a chain fixed-interval fixed-interval schedule on one key and by a simple fixed-interval schedule with an equal interreinforcement interval in the other. The relative duration between the first and second components (segmentation ratio) in the terminal-link chained schedule was systematically varied while the terminal-link duration was kept constant at either 15 s or 30 s in two sets of conditions. With few exceptions, the simple schedule was preferred to the chained schedule. Furthermore, this preference was inversely related to the size of the segmentation ratio in the segmented schedule. When the segmentation ratio was smaller than 1:1, preference was more extreme for a 30-s condition than for a 15-s condition. However, preference decreased more rapidly in conditions with the longer terminal-link duration when the ratio increased. Taken together, these results were consistent with previous findings concerning the effect of the terminal-link duration on choice between segmented and unsegmented schedules. In addition, the data suggested that segmentation ratio in a segmented schedule constitutes another potent factor influencing preference for the unsegmented schedule.     

Counseling With the Elderly Living in Public Housing

Elderly persons living in public housing experience a variety of problems. Counselors can help these residents by assisting them to cope better with their environment and personal relationships. This article discusses some specific problems, concerns, and approaches for counselors working with the elderly.     

Psychological distance to reward: Segmentation of aperiodic schedules of reinforcement

College students responded for monetary rewards in two experiments on choice between differentially segmented aperiodic schedules of reinforcement. On a microcomputer, the concurrent chains were simulated as an air-defense video game in which subjects used two radars for detecting and destroying enemy aircraft. To earn more cash-exchangeable points, subjects had to shoot down as many planes as possible within a given period of time. For both experiments, access to one of two radar systems (terminal link) was controlled by a pair of independent concurrent variable-interval 60-s schedules (initial link) with a 4-s changeover delay always in effect. In Experiment 1, the appearance of an enemy aircraft in the terminal link was determined by a variable-interval (15 s or 60 s) schedule or a two-component chained variable-interval schedule of equal duration. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1 except for the segmented schedule, which had three components. Subjects preferred the unsegmented schedule over its segmented counterpart in the conditions with variable-interval 60 s, and preference tended to be more pronounced with more components in the segmented schedule. These findings are compatible with those from previous studies of periodic and aperiodic schedules with pigeons or humans as subjects.     

Assessment of age-related changes in inhibition and binding using eye movement monitoring

Age-related memory deficits may result from attending to too much information (inhibition deficit) and/or storing too little information (binding deficit). The present study evaluated the inhibition and binding accounts by exploiting a situation in which deficits of inhibition should benefit relational memory binding. Older adults directed more viewing toward abrupt onsets in scenes compared with younger adults under instructions to ignore any such onsets, providing evidence for age-related inhibitory deficits, which were ameliorated with additional practice. Subsequently, objects that served as abrupt onsets underwent changes in their spatial relations. Despite successful inhibition of the onsets, eye movements of younger adults were attracted to manipulated objects. In contrast, the eye movements of older adults, who directed more viewing to the late onsets compared with younger adults, were not attracted toward manipulated regions. Similar differences between younger and older adults in viewing of manipulated regions were observed under free viewing conditions. These findings provide evidence for concurrent inhibition and binding deficits in older adults and demonstrate that age-related declines in inhibitory processing do not lead to enhanced relational memory for extraneous information.     

Experts see it all: configural effects in action observation

Biological motion perception is influenced by observers’ familiarity with the observed action. Here, we used classical dance as a means to investigate how visual and motor experience modulates perceptual mechanism for configural processing of actions. Although some ballet moves are performed by only one gender, male and female dancers train together and acquire visual knowledge of all ballet moves. Twenty-four expert ballet dancers (12 female) and matched non-expert participants viewed pairs of upright and inverted point light female and common dance movements. Visual discrimination between different exemplars of the same movement presented upright was significantly better in experts than controls, whilst no differences were found when the same stimuli were presented upside down. These results suggest expertise influences configural action processing. Within the expert group, effects were stronger for female participants than for males, whilst no differences were found between movement types. This observer gender effect could suggest an additional role for motor familiarity in action perception, over and above the visual experience. Our results are consistent with a specific motor contribution to configural processing of action.     

Evaluation of key points in the sit-to-stand movement using two force platforms

Three key points of the sit-to-stand (STS) movement were confirmed as aspects of the ground reaction force (GRF): the onset, maximum GRF, and seat-off. 46 healthy subjects (M age = 22.2 yr., SD = 4.4) participated. During the STS movement, two vertical force platforms were used to measure the resultant GRF, defined as the whole-body force, and its two components, the buttock and leg GRFs. The onsets of the component GRFs identified the sequence of the important time points in the STS movement more precisely than the onset of the resultant GRF. Data showed that the maximum whole-body GRF, the maximum GRF of both legs, and seat-off appeared in sequence and not simultaneously.     

Catastrophizing,locus of control,pain, and disability in chinese chronic low back pain patients

Abstract

The present study examined the associations of locus of control (LOC) and catastrophizing with pain intensity and disability in Chinese chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. In the study, 56 respondents (21 men and 35 women) with a mean age of 36.98 years (SD= 12.22) completed measures assessing locus of control, catastrophizing tendency, pain intensity, disability, and psychological distress. Results showed that after partialling out the effects of gender, duration of pain, and psychological distress, internal LOC significantly explained the variance of disability. For pain intensity, only catastrophizing accounted for a large portion of the variance. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future work were discussed.