Scene layout from ground contact,occlusion, and motion parallax

An important factor in determining perceived scene layout is optical contact between objects and the ground surface (“ground contact”). The relation between ground contact and occlusion was investigated in four experiments with stationary and motion parallax scenes containing a pole that occluded or was occluded by one or more cylinders. Some judgements were inconsistent with occlusion in stationary scenes, but judgements were consistent with occlusion in motion parallax scenes. When the range of object positions consistent with occlusion did not include the positions specified by ground contract or by motion parallax, the ground contact and motion parallax information still had a quantitative effect on the perceived position of the object within the range consistent with occlusion. These results demonstrate a cooperative interaction between ground contact, occlusion, and motion parallax in determining perceived layout in 3-D scenes.     

Exercise type relates to inhibitory and error processing functions in older adults

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the association between exercise type and inhibition of prepotent responses and error detection. Totally, 75 adults (M = 68.88 years) were classified into one of three exercise groups: those who were regular participants in open- or closed-skill forms of exercise, and those who exercised only irregularly. The participants completed a Stroop and task-switching tasks with event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded. The results revealed that regular exercisers displayed faster reaction times (RTs) in the Stroop task compared with irregular exercisers. The open-skill exercisers exhibited smaller N200 and larger P300a amplitudes in the Stroop task compared with irregular exercisers. Furthermore, the open-skill exercisers showed a tendency of shorter error-related negativity latencies at the task-witching test. The findings suggest that older adults may gain extra cognitive benefits in areas such as inhibition functioning and error processing from participating in open-skill forms of physical exercises.     

The Psychological Displacement Paradigm in Diary-Writing (PDPD) and its Psychological Benefits

The present study aimed to investigate the psychological displacement paradigm in diary-writing (PDPD) had both immediate and short-term psychological benefits. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their recent negative life experiences two times a week for 2 weeks in PDPD group or comparison group. Results revealed that the PDPD group displayed a decrease in negative emotion and an increase in positive emotion immediately after each writing session; they also showed an increase in psychological well-being relative to the comparison group for at least 2 weeks. Implications for PDPD are discussed.     

关于儿童自闭症行为矫治法的几个理论问题

了解儿童自闭症行为矫治法有助于提高自闭症治疗的质量和效果。本文讨论了有关儿童自闭症行为矫治法的几个理论问题。作者还介绍分析了中外自闭症文献中记载的儿童自闭症行为矫治法的临床实验及其治疗效果。     

外倾和神经质对情绪的影响

采用心理生理实验法和问卷法检验人格特质对情绪的影响。结果：高外倾的正情绪增强型调节多,正情绪也多;高神经质的负情绪增强型调节多,负情绪也多。厌恶情绪过程中,外倾的R-R间期增加大,躯体活动变化弱,快乐增加大,兴趣增加少;神经质的FT增加大,恐惧增强多。调节过程中,高外倾的FT增加大;神经质的FT增加弱,表情行为强度增强大。结论：外倾和神经质对厌恶情绪及其调节过程的情绪成分变化起复杂作用,配合其调节方式习惯,使各特质具有特别的情绪特点。     

Social inequality and the reduction of ideological dissonance on behalf of the system: evidence of enhanced system justification among the disadvantaged

According to system justification theory, people are motivated to preserve the belief that existing social arrangements are fair, legitimate, justifiable, and necessary. The strongest form of this hypothesis, which draws on the logic of cognitive dissonance theory, holds that people who are most disadvantaged by the status quo would have the greatest psychological need to reduce ideological dissonance and would therefore be most likely to support, defend, and justify existing social systems, authorities, and outcomes. Variations on this hypothesis were tested in five US national survey studies. We found that (a) low‐income respondents and African Americans were more likely than others to support limitations on the rights of citizens and media representatives to criticize the government; (b) low‐income Latinos were more likely to trust in US government officials and to believe that ‘the government is run for the benefit of all’ than were high‐income Latinos; (c) low‐income respondents were more likely than high‐income respondents to believe that large differences in pay are necessary to foster motivation and effort; (d) Southerners in the USA were more likely to endorse meritocratic belief systems than were Northerners and poor and Southern African Americans were more likely to subscribe to meritocratic ideologies than were African Americans who were more affluent and from the North; (e) low‐income respondents and African Americans were more likely than others to believe that economic inequality is legitimate and necessary; and (f) stronger endorsement of meritocratic ideology was associated with greater satisfaction with one's own economic situation. Taken together, these findings are consistent with the dissonance‐based argument that people who suffer the most from a given state of affairs are paradoxically the least likely to question, challenge, reject, or change it. Implications for theories of system justification, cognitive dissonance, and social change are also discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新世纪预防医学发展方向的浅议

现代预防医学所面临的主要研究内容从传统的传染性疾病向以社会、环境等因素所导致的疾病转移,不仅需要研究人类的生物属性,而且在人类的社会属性以及和种因素对人群健康的影响、消除和控制这些方面有更为广泛的研究任务,并且需要从预防的理论、技术加以拓展。     

Cytokine-Purine Interactions in Behavioral Depression in Rats

This paper reviews recent findings from our laboratories concerning metabolic and immune mediators of behavioral depression in rats. Specifically, a single injection of 6 mg/kg of reserpine substantially increases behavioral depression, as evidenced by an increase in the amount of time spent floating by independent groups of rats tested for swim performance at various times during the next week. The behavioral impairment consists of two components. An early component emerges one hour after reserpine treatment and persists for about 24 hours. The deficit is not reversed by intracranial ventricular infusion of the receptor antagonist for interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). A second, late-component deficit appears approximately 48 hours after reserpine treatment and recovers within a week. Late-component depression is reversed by central infusion of the IL-1beta receptor antagonist, and is mimicked by central infusion of the proinflammatory cytokine. Importantly, both early and late components of reserpine-induced depression and IL-1beta induced depression are reversed by a systemic injection of the highly selective A2A adenosine receptor antagonist 8-(3-Chlorostyryl) caffeine. These data are discussed in terms of the overlap in the conservation-withdrawal reaction during sickness, traumatic stress, and major depression and the regional contribution of purines and cytokines to the organization of this reaction in the brain.     

Job Level and National Culture as Joint Roots of Job Satisfaction

Pour examiner les variations de la satisfaction au travail dans une perspective transculturelle et interfonctions, des donées d'enquête d'une compagnie internationale auprès de 129,087 répondants de 39 pays ont été analysées. Des analyses à plusieurs niveaux ont montré que la satisfaction au travail est positivement liée au statut et au niveau de l'emploi exercé dans les pays individualistes sans que soit le cas dans les pays collectivistes. De plus, la relation positive entre la satisfaction au travail et le niveau de l'emploi exercé ne se marque que pour les emplois offrant l'opportunité d'exercer ses compétences dans les pays individualistes. Le niveau de l'emploi est même négativement liéà la satisfaction au travail pour des emplois offrant peu d'opportunité d'exercer ses compétences dans les pays collectivistes.
To examine cross-cultural and cross-occupational variations in job satisfaction, data from a multinational company survey with 129,087 respondents from 39 countries was analysed. Multilevel analyses showed that job level is positively related to job satisfaction in individualistic countries but not in collectivistic countries. Moreover, the positive relationship between job level and job satisfaction holds only for jobs with much opportunity to use one's skills and abilities, especially in individualistic countries. Job level is even negatively related to job satisfaction in jobs with little opportunity to use one's skills and abilities in collectivistic countries.