N. R. Hanson and von Uexküll: A Biosemiotic and Evolutionary Account of Theories

Journal for General Philosophy of Science - This paper proposes a biosemiotic conception of theories, as non-intentional organic theories, which is based on an analysis and comparison of...     

On the relationship between phonological awareness,morphological awareness and Chinese literacy skills: evidence from an 8‐year longitudinal study

The present study reported data on phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and Chinese literacy skills of 294 children from an 8‐year longitudinal study. Results showed that mainland Chinese children's preliterate syllable awareness at ages 4 to 6 years uniquely predicted post‐literate morphological awareness at ages 7 to 10 years. Preliterate syllable awareness directly contributed to character reading and writing at age 11 years, while post‐literate phonemic awareness predicted only character reading at age 11 years. In addition, preliterate syllable and morphological awareness at ages 4 to 6 years had indirect effects on character reading and writing, reading fluency, and reading comprehension at age 11 years, through post‐literate morphological awareness at ages 7 to 10 years. Findings underscore the significant role of syllable awareness in Chinese character reading and writing, and the importance of morphological awareness in character‐level processing and high‐level literacy skills. More importantly, our results suggest the unique relation of syllable awareness and morphological awareness in Chinese as they focus on the same unit, which is also likely to map directly onto a character, the basic unit for high‐level Chinese reading skills.     

Impact of material vs. experiential purchase types on happiness: The moderating role of self‐discrepancy

Most literature suggests that consumers are happier when they spend their money on experience, rather than material purchases, on the premise that consumers may evaluate material possessions largely on the basis of their functional utility and ability to fulfill basic human needs; experiential consumption reportedly fulfills mainly psychological needs. The present research addresses material purchases that fulfill not only functional but also psychological needs (e.g., status purchase). The results reveal that consumers with high self‐discrepancy are more apt to derive happiness from material status purchases than those with low self‐discrepancy (Experiments 1 and 2); this effect is mediated by the motives for goal pursuit (Experiment 3), as triggered by the desire to narrow the gap between the actual self and an ideal self. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Complexity of Ethnic Identity Among Jewish American Emerging Adults

Jewish Americans may grapple with issues of ethnic identity differently than the larger White American group. Drawn from a large multisite sample (N = 8,501), 280 Jewish American (207 female, 73 male) emerging adults were compared with White American and ethnic minority samples on ethnic and U.S. identity. Jewish Americans rated themselves as significantly higher on measures of ethnic and U.S. identity compared with White Americans but not as highly as ethnic minorities. Ethnic identity search, affirmation, and resolution also predicted higher self-esteem for Jewish Americans, similar to the pattern for other ethnic groups. In addition, ethnic identity search and affirmation moderated the link between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among Jewish Americans.     

When the brain simulates stopping: Neural activity recorded during real and imagined stop-signal tasks

It has been suggested that mental rehearsal activates brain areas similar to those activated by real performance. Although inhibition is a key function of human behavior, there are no previous reports of brain activity during imagined response cancellation. We analyzed event-related potentials (ERPs) and time–frequency data associated with motor execution and inhibition during real and imagined performance of a stop-signal task. The ERPs characteristic of stop trials—that is, the stop-N2 and stop-P3—were also observed during covert performance of the task. Imagined stop (IS) trials yielded smaller stop-N2 amplitudes than did successful stop (SS) and unsuccessful stop (US) trials, but midfrontal theta power similar to that in SS trials. The stop-P3 amplitude for IS was intermediate between those observed for SS and US. The results may be explained by the absence of error-processing and correction processes during imagined performance. For go trials, real execution was associated with higher mu and beta desynchronization over motor areas, which confirms previous reports of lower motor activation during imagined execution and also with larger P3b amplitudes, probably indicating increased top-down attention to the real task. The similar patterns of activity observed for imagined and real performance suggest that imagination tasks may be useful for training inhibitory processes. Nevertheless, brain activation was generally weaker during mental rehearsal, probably as a result of the reduced engagement of top-down mechanisms and limited error processing.     

Happier,faster: Developmental changes in the effects of mood and novelty on responses

Positive mood ameliorates several cognitive processes: It can enhance cognitive control, increase flexibility, and promote variety seeking in decision making. These effects of positive mood have been suggested to depend on frontostriatal dopamine, which is also associated with the detection of novelty. This suggests that positive mood could also affect novelty detection. In the present study, children and adults saw either a happy or a neutral movie to induce a positive or neutral mood. After that, they were shown novel and familiar images. On some trials a beep was presented over headphones either at the same time as the image or at a 200-ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), and the task of the participant was to detect these auditory targets. Children were slower in responding than adults. Positive mood, however, speeded responses, especially in children, and induced facilitatory effects of novelty. These effects were consistent with increased arousal. Although effects of novelty were more consistent with an attentional response, in children who had watched a happy movie the novel images evoked a more liberal response criterion, suggestive of increased arousal. This suggests that mood and novelty may affect response behaviour stronger in children than in adults.     

Agreement of Children and Parents Scores on Chinese Version of Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0: Further Psychometric Development

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Quality of life (QoL) is an important index that allows health practitioners to understand the overall health status of an individual. One commonly used...     

Neuropsychological Impact of Trauma-Related Mental Illnesses: A Systematic Review of Clinically Meaningful Results

Neuropsychology Review - A trauma history is present in approximately 90% of adults in the United States. Comparatively, lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence...     

The Influence of Arbitrary Breakpoints on Judgments of Maximum Output

Consumers often wonder about the product's maximum output: the highest rotation speed of a blender or the best printing quality of a printer. We examine how the number of levels (e.g., a blender with 3 vs. 7 speeds) influences judgments of maximum product output. Objectively speaking, the number of levels is no more than a set of breakpoints in an already predetermined continuum from the product's minimum to maximum output. Nevertheless, because of the ubiquitous association between number of breakpoints and quantity in daily life, consumers do not simply view more levels as a signal of greater precision (i.e., giving consumers more control over the possible outputs). They also incorrectly believe that the product has greater power (i.e., a higher maximum output), even when such an inference is in conflict with diagnostic attribute information (e.g., watts). A series of five studies documents the phenomenon, its asymmetric nature, and its boundary conditions. Reliance on the inaccurate “more levels, more power” lay theory weakens when participants consider a reduction rather than an increase in number of levels, and it disappears when the consumer is presented with an explicit relationship between each level and its corresponding output value (e.g., level 4:400 W).