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.     

告知癌症患者真实诊断信息的策略

癌症死亡率高的特点,使人们“谈癌色变”.由于考虑到癌症患者得知诊断结果后产生不良影响,现在我国大多数临床医生还在采用隐瞒的告知方式.笔者通过对不告知癌症患者真实诊断的利弊分析以及告知真实诊断的理由论述,提出解决的策略,旨在帮助临床医生解决临床告知中的难题.     

Role of the NO/sGC/PKG signaling pathway of hippocampal CA1 in morphine-induced reward memory

Evidence suggests that the nitric oxide (NO)/soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC)/cGMP dependent protein kinase (PKG) signaling pathway plays a key role in memory processing, but the actual participation of this signaling cascade in the hippocampal CA1 during morphine-induced reward memory remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of the NO/sGC/PKG signaling pathway in the CA1 on morphine-induced reward memory using a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. We found that rats receiving an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 4mg/kg morphine exhibited CPP, whereas rats treated with only 0.2mg/kg morphine failed to produce CPP. Intra-CA1 injection of the neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) inhibitor 7-NI, the sGC inhibitor ODQ or the PKG inhibitor Rp-8-Br-PET-cGMPS had no effect on the acquisition of CPP by 4mg/kg morphine. Intra-CA1 injection of 7-NI blocked the consolidation of CPP induced by 4mg/kg morphine, and this amnesic effect of 7-NI was mimicked by ODQ and Rp-8-Br-PET-cGMPS. Intra-CA1 injection of the NOS substrate L-arg or the sGC activator YC-1 with an ineffective dose of morphine (0.2mg/kg, i.p.) elicited CPP. This response induced by L-arg or YC-1 was reversed by pre-microinjection of Rp-8-Br-PET-cGMPS in the CA1. These results indicated that the activation of the NO/sGC/PKG signaling pathway in the CA1 is necessary for the consolidation of morphine-related reward memory.     

空间焦虑与导航方式对寻路行为的影响

探讨了空间焦虑与导航方式对寻路行为的影响并分析了该效应的性别差异。实验被试96名,实验结果显示：在VR迷宫场景中寻路,对女性而言,空间焦虑与导航方式对寻路绩效影响显著。对空间焦虑较低的女性而言,标志导航最佳,标志与YAH地图并存时次之,YAH地图导航最差;对空间焦虑较高的女性而言,标志与YAH地图并存时效率最高,标志导航次之,YAH地图导航最差。对女性而言,YAH地图导航显著劣于其它两种导航方式。而对男性而言,空间焦虑与导航方式对寻路绩效的影响差异不显著。该研究结果可为导航支持系统的界面设计提供依据。     

The Influence of Attentional Style and Risk Perceptions on Intentions to Undergo Prophylactic Oophorectomy Among First-Degree Relatives

This study examined the predictors of women's intentions to undergo prophylactic oophorectomy. Eighty female first-degree relatives (FDRs) of ovarian cancer patients completed a measure of attentional style upon enrollment into a Family Risk Assessment Program. Following participation, measures of cancer risk perceptions, perceived benefits and costs of surgery, and intentions to undergo preventive surgery were obtained. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that a high monitoring attentional style, as well as greater perceived risk of ovarian cancer and greater perceived benefits of the procedure, was associated with greater intentions to undergo prophylactic oophorectomy. In addition, a significant interaction between attentional style and perceived risk revealed that high monitors who felt at increased risk for ovarian cancer were less inclined to undergo surgery, whereas low monitors who perceived themselves to be at increased risk were more inclined to undergo surgery. The implications of the results for the design of counseling interventions are discussed.     

Effect of couple stress at the interfaces of a nano-hole on the anti-plane electro-mechanical behavior

In piezoelectric nanocomposites, surface/interface plays an important role in determining the size-dependent behavior of media. Within the framework of couple stress, the effect of surface/interface around a nano-hole on the anti-plane electro-mechanical behavior is examined. By introducing a surface/interface model, the stress and electric displacement effects on the size-dependent behavior are both considered. The governing equations in piezoelectric materials are decoupled into the classical ones. The displacement and electric potential are expressed by Bessel functions. By satisfying the boundary conditions around the hole with the interface/surface effect, the expanded coefficients are obtained. Through analysis, it is shown that the mechanical and electrical fields drastically depend on the relative size of the hole with respect to the characteristic length of the material. The effects of couple stresses on the stress and electric field are also addressed. Comparison with the existing results is also given.     

Secondary psychopathy,but not primary psychopathy,is associated with risky decision-making in noninstitutionalized young adults

Although risky decision-making has been posited to contribute to the maladaptive behavior of individuals with psychopathic tendencies, the performance of psychopathic groups on a common task of risky decision-making, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994), has been equivocal. Different aspects of psychopathy (personality traits, antisocial deviance) and/or moderating variables may help to explain these inconsistent findings. In a sample of college students (N = 129, age 18–27), we examined the relationship between primary and secondary psychopathic features and IGT performance. A measure of impulsivity was included to investigate its potential as a moderator. In a joint model including main effects and interactions between primary psychopathy, secondary psychopathy and impulsivity, only secondary psychopathy was significantly related to risky IGT performance, and this effect was not moderated by the other variables. This finding supports the growing literature suggesting that secondary psychopathy is a better predictor of decision-making problems than the primary psychopathic personality traits of lack of empathy and remorselessness.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLED NARRATIVE COMPETENCE AMONG SECOND GRADERS

The ability to produce schooled narrative is closely related to students' literacy development and school success. This study examined young children's communicative competence in schooled narrative and the nature of its development. Participants were 21 second graders in a literature-based classroom. Four stories were collected from each child at equal intervals of the school year through a dictation procedure that taps their discursive knowledge of schooled narrative. These stories were analyzed for inclusion of a variety of linguistic markers that embody three essential features of schooled narrative - autonomy, conventionality, and specialized grammar. Results showed that participants demonstrated more familiarity with conventionality than with the other two features of schooled narrative. Their understanding of specialized grammar was particularly nascent. There was also considerable variation in their discursive competence in schooled narrative. Further, significant changes were observed during the school year in the children's knowledge of autonomy, but not conventionality or specialized grammar. Taken together, these findings suggest that the development of schooled narrative competence is non-uniform, feature-specific, unstable, and complex.     

At the Interface of Ethnicity and Recent Immigration: Family Functioning of Chinese with School-Age Children in Canada

This study examined the family functioning of recent Chinese immigrants living in Canada in terms of its status and those socio-ecological factors that influence it. Recent immigration has resulted in an increasingly large number of residents in Canada and the US who represent both an immigrant and an ethnic minority status. Among such residents are Chinese immigrants. Because of the potentially large number of school-age children who are part of these families, the family functioning of the new Chinese immigrants with school-age children would be important for the children’s development. This study therefore compared 112 Chinese families who recently immigrated to Canada with 90 Caucasian non-immigrant families. Scales were administered to the families to measure various aspects of family functioning. The results showed that the Chinese immigrants experienced a lower degree of family cohesion. Their socio-ecological factors were both similar and different from the non-immigrants, with a lower degree of social support and certain differences in child-rearing practices than the non-immigrants. Social support and child-rearing practices were differentially related to different dimensions of family functioning. However, these relationships were not entirely unique to the immigrants. The results have increased our understanding of immigrants and may contribute to the provision of effective support for immigrants. Implications are suggested for community support for immigrants and for further research.     

The Impact of Publicity and Subsequent Intervention in Recruitment Advertising on Job Searching Freshmen's Attraction to an Organization and Job Pursuit Intention

This study investigates the impacts of publicity exposure and recruiting advertisement sequence on freshmen's job search attraction to organizations and their job decisions. The current research uses a two‐factor experiment design, publicity (positive vs. negative) and recruiting ads (detailed vs. general), and recruits 415 undergraduates (seniors are the majority). Results indicate that negative publicity has greater effect on applicant attraction than positive publicity. The perceived truthfulness of sequential intervening recruiting advertisement rules the reaction to job ad, then further impacts on organizational attractiveness and job pursuit intention. With negative publicity exposure, higher specificity of recruiting advertisement has more significant mitigation effects than lower specificity. This work discusses implications and directions for future research.