Establishing the constructs of childhood behavioral disturbances in a Chinese population: A questionnaire study

The behavioral problems of Chinese children were examined in a questionnaire study of a representative sample of 3,069 seven-year-old Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong using Rutter's questionnaires for completion by parents and teachers. Separate robust dimensions of hyperactivity, antisocial, and neurotic behaviors were evident. The correlations among different dimensions were similar to those reported in the West. Short-term longitudinal analysis suggested that these dimensions were stable over time and that antisocial behaviors might develop in hyperactive children. The finding highlights the necessity of differentiating the hyperactive domain from the antisocial one. A significant source effect was found in all three dimensions. Chinese schoolboys had nearly two times the level of questionnaire-rated hyperactivity compared with school boys in the West; but it is premature to conclude that hyperactivity is more common in Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong. Cross-cultural differences in adults' expectations and tolerance remain a plausible explanation.This study was supported by the Croucher Foundation. We would like to thank the Education Department of Hong Kong for assistance in sampling. We are particularly grateful to the children, teachers, and parents who participated in this study.     

Towards a theory of the organism

A tentative theory of the organism is derived from McClare’s (1971) notion ofstored energy and Denbigh’s (1951) thermodynamics of the steady state, as a dynamically closed, energetically self-sufficient domain of cyclic non-dissipative processes coupled to irreversible dissipative processes. This effectively frees the organism from thermodynamic constraints so that it is poised for rapid, specific intercommunication, enabling it to function as a coherent whole. In the ideal, the organism is a quantum superposition of coherent activities over all space-time domains, with instantaneous (nonlocal) noiseless intercommunication throughout the system. Evidence for quantum coherence is considered and reviewed.     

DECISION AFFECT THEORY:

Abstract— How do people feel about the outcomes of risky options? Results from two experiments demonstrate that the emotional reaction to a monetary outcome is nor a simple function of the utility of that outcome Emotional responses also depend on probabilities and unobtained outcomes Unexpected outcomes have greater emotional impact than expected outcomes Furthermore any given outcome is lets pleasant if an unobtained outcome is better We propose an account of emotional experiences associated with outcomes of decisions called decision affect theory. It incorporates utilities expectations and counterfactual companions into hedonic responses. Finally, we show that choices between risky options can be described as the maximization of expected emotional experiences as predicted by decision affect theory That is people choose the risky option for which they expect to feel better on average.     

Discrimination of vowel sounds of very short duration

An experiment was conducted to investigate the discrimination of six vowel sounds of 10 msec duration. Vowels of equal pitch and intensity level were generated by computer. Both phonetically trained (PT) and untrained (UPT) Ss were used. Rapid learning took place, and the PT Ss showed much better discrimination than the UPT Ss. Confusion matrices of the last four learning blocks indicated that /i/ and /u/ sounded very much alike when they were short. The pattern of the test scores was discussed with reference to pure tone perception.     

Intralingual and interlingual factors in language-learning difficulty

A distinction between behavioral and linguistic measures of difficulty in language learning is made explicit. It is argued that behavioral measures must be regarded as primary and linguistic measures as secondary, the latter being only a component of the former. An evaluation of the evidence leads to the following conclusions: (a) No unequivocal answer can be given to the question of whether some languages are intrinsically more difficult to learn than others; (b) second-language learning is more difficult than first-language learning, to the extent that native-speaker competence is a very difficult goal to achieve by adult second-language learners; and (c) interlingual distance is a determinant of difficulty but simple, linear relations between them or between linguistic and behavioral measures of difficulty can hardly be expected.Preparation for this article was supported by the Committee on Research and Conference Grants, University of Hong Kong.